Magic Ice
by Kniteshadow
Summary: Ranma is fed with the fiances and after the failed wedding goes to Nabiki for help.  She agrees to help and in return he agrees to help with her "Special" talents.  This is a Ranma-Nabiki paring. My humble thanks to all who have so kindly reviewed.
1. Fed Up

Magic Ice

_Author's notes: This is was originally intended to be a pair of one shots I later turned into a complete story after some encouragement from a good friend. It starts out on a now familiar tone with Ranma asking Nabiki for help and works from there. Many of the characters in this story may seem OOC, especially Akane. This story takes place after the failed wedding and although it may not seem like it, this is indeed a Ranma and Nabiki pairing The story is complete and I will be releasing a chapter every few days or so, depending on the feedback._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Fed Up

Nabiki looked over the family finances for the tenth time that evening. Shaking her head, she thought to herself, _"It's going to be close. That wedding disaster last month cost us a lot more than we took in."_

She made a couple of small adjustments to her figures before she continued her thoughts, _"I thought for sure that Akane didn't want to get married that time. The whole affair looked like another one of Father and Mr. Saotome's stupid plans to force them to get married. But later that night when Father postponed the wedding, Akane seemed very sad and disappointed."_

Nabiki closed her ledger and looked out her window for a moment. _"For once, it wasn't Ranma's fault. He would have gone along with the wedding with no real objections if everything hadn't gone to hell. But when Father announced the postponing of the wedding, Ranma didn't seem to care. His face was a complete blank as if something else was on his mind."_

Nabiki got up from her desk and walked over to her dresser. Yawning, she removed the small earrings and placed them in a varnished wooden box, "Oh well, enough of that for now. Time to get some sleep."

She had just started to undo her blouse when there was a soft knock at the door. With a hint of irritation in her tone of voice, she answered, "Yes? Who is it?"

From the other side of her door, she heard, "It's me, Ranma. May I come in? I need to talk to you, Nabiki."

Nabiki sighed and walked over to the door. She opened it enough to look through, "It's late and I'm tired, Ranma. Can't this wait till tomorrow?

Ramna looked through the opening, "I'm sorry Nabiki, but this is really important."

Nabiki opened the door and let Ranma to into her room. He was dressed in his usual black Chinese pants and wore a red tank top. He had been sweating quite a bit and as Nabiki noted this, she smirked, "A little late to be working out…even for you, Ranma."

Ranma smiled sheepishly at Nabiki and noted with a bit of relief he had caught the middle Tendo daughter before she had dressed for bed. "Yeah, I sometimes do katas to help me think. Some people meditate. I work out."

Not for the first time, Nabiki noted with more than a hint of admiration Ranma's toned muscles on his arms and chest. After a moment she raised an eyebrow slightly, "Only you could think of a way to relax while doing martial arts."

She tilted her head to one side and drawled, "So tell me Ranma, what's this all about, anyway?"

Ranma hesitated for a moment and then said, "I'm going to ask her."

"Ask who?"

"Akane."

Nabiki gave Ranma an icy stare, "What are you going to ask Akane?"

Ranma took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Nabiki's eyes grew wide for a moment, "After all that just happened? I would have thought that you would have been too fed up to even consider another wedding so soon. What, with your dad knocking you out and dressing you up in a tux, my dad hiding the nannichuan from you, and then the wrecking crew showing up and destroying the wedding before it could even start..."

Nabiki stopped suddenly as she remembered her part in the wedding fiasco.

Instead of getting angry, Ranma sighed, "Look Nabiki, I've decided that its time for me to take responsibility for my life. I'm sick and tired of all the insane stuff that's been happening to me during the past few years. I'm cursed and I change into a girl. When I do, I get my breasts latched onto by a perverted gnome. I'm being hounded by a bunch of Amazons that want to drag my butt back to China for breeding stock. I have an insane girl chasing me that has sick and perverted sexual fantasies about my boy side and I have her brother having sick and perverted sexual fantasies about my girl side."

Ranma took a breath and continued, "My life long friend suddenly turns out to be a girl and is somehow engaged to me because of Pop. Another old friend of mine is trying to kill me because he couldn't find his way to a challenge and a blind Amazon wants to kill me because the girl he loves thinks I'm her husband."

Nabiki touched her finger to her mouth for a moment and answered, "You do lead a chaotic life, Ranma. Where ever you go, trouble follows. It's not really your fault, it just happens."

Ranma's deep blue eyes gazed sharply at Nabiki, "Not any more. I've had it with this crap. I want to clear up this fiancé mess and start to lead a normal life."

Nabiki blinked once, "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

"Dead serious." Ramna reached into his pocket, "Take a look at this."

He pulled his hand out and handed a small maroon box to Nabiki. She took the box and smiled when she opened it. Inside was a small but beautiful diamond engagement ring. The ring was made of gold, and mounted on the edge was a diamond of about half a karat. Around the base of the diamond were five smaller diamonds. Nabiki noted that there should have been six but one was missing.

As Nabiki looked the ring over, Ranma said, "It used to belong to my mother. When she was little, her mother gave it to her and told her that when she had a son, he was to give this ring to his fiancé. A few months after Pop married Mom, he found the ring and sold it to a pawn shop for a few thousand yen. He came home that night drunk as a skunk and bragged to her that he had found a little treasure. She did a quick inventory of her things and found the ring missing. When Pop woke up, Mom had tied him up and was holding her katana ready. She told him that if he didn't tell her right away where the ring was, she was going to cut him apart one piece at a time, starting with his crotch."

Nabiki snickered as she thought of Genma all tied up while staring up at Nodoka as she loomed over him with her katana. "I take it he told her."

Ranma continued, "Yeah, Pop saw that katana inching towards him and started talking real quick. Mom left him tied up and went down to the pawn shop to get the ring back. Once she paid the pawn shop owner, she inspected the ring and immediately noticed that a stone was missing. When she asked the clerk about it, he said that it was like that when he received it. When Mom returned home, she beat Pop with her training bokken for half an hour before letting him go. Once she was done, she told him that if he ever took anything of hers again, she would kill him for the sake of honor."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "It doesn't seem to have stopped your father from taking stuff."

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, old panda butt hasn't changed much from what I've seen. Then again, he's been away from Mom for quite a while. She did tell me the ring meant a lot to her."

Nabiki chuckled to herself as she placed the ring back in the little box and said, "It's still a very nice ring, Ranma. I'm sure Akane is going to be very happy when you give it to her."

Ranma looked at the floor for a moment and then said, "Yeah, I sure hope she likes it"

Nabiki looked at Ranma and asked, "Do you love her?"

For a moment, Ramna almost started his automatic series of comments about uncute tomboys, but then he thought about it for a moment and said, "That's the hard part. I never had the sort of family you have here, so it's real hard for me to know exactly what love is. I care for her a lot, Nabiki. There are times when she's smiled at me just right and I was so blown away by it I couldn't think straight. Most of the time, I feel really good when we're together and all, as long as we're not fighting."

"That's an important point to consider, Ranma. You two fight like cats and dogs and sometimes over the stupidest things. I'm not an expert on this, but I have heard it said that when you do fall in love with someone, you will know it and everything will feel right in the world."

"Yeah, I've heard something like that too. But I think that a lot of the problems we have are from all of the crazies and the fact that neither of us can seem to admit our feelings to each other. There have been many times when we were so close to making a breakthrough, only to have it interrupted by the parents, the fiancés or god knows what else."

He looked at Nabiki for a moment and then continued, "The day of that wedding, she acted like she really wanted to get married. She was so beautiful looking in that wedding dress and at that moment, I would have done anything she asked. I thought for a moment that the time was right and we could freely admit our feelings to each other. The last thing I expected was for her to say that I would regret it if we didn't get married."

Nabiki said, "That may have been because of the nannichuan. I'm pretty sure she knew father had it."

Nabiki closed the box and started to hand it back to Ranma. She was surprised to see Ranma place his hands on top of hers to stop her. As she raised an eyebrow, he commented, "I still need a favor to ask of you, Nabiki. I don't know anything about this sort of thing and I would like you to help me get a new stone to replace the one missing from the ring."

Nabiki smiled coily, "Why, I'd be happy to help you out Ranma…And because you're going to be family, I'll even give you a discount."

Ranma chuckled, "The family discount, eh. I don't have enough money for your discount Nabiki, and I don't have the time to go work at the Cat Café for Cologne.

Nabiki shook her head a bit, "Now Ranma, even if I wave the fee for my future brother-in –law, the work to repair the ring is still going to cost some money."

A smile formed on Ranma's lips, "Tell you what…You help me get the ring fixed up and I'll help you work on your ki."

Nabiki stuttered, "My…ki?"

Ranma smiled again, "Yeah, I can help you understand how to channel it better and you can help me with the ring!"

"But I don't-"

"It's settled then. I'll talk to you a bit more about it tomorrow. Good night and thanks for everything."

With that, Ranma reached out and gave Nabiki a gentle hug. Nothing romantic, or Amazon, but a nice family sort of hug. After a couple of seconds, he let her go and headed out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Nabiki just stood there for a several long seconds as she thought about what just happened. For the first time since he had come into the Tendo home, Ramna Saotome had made a deal with Nabiki and wound up on the winning end. There was something very different about Ranma that needed to be looked into.

With the latest developments running through Nabiki's mind, she started to get ready for bed. After she got in her nighty, she turned off the light and slipped in the covers. As she fell asleep, Nabiki smiled to herself as she remembered how nice it felt to be hugged by Ranma.


	2. A Hint of Frost

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's charactors. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

A Hint of Frost

Morning started with the usual sparring match between Ranma and his father followed by a huge splash and the usual soaking wet panda climbing out of the koi pond. Before they could begin another round, Kasumi called out, "Breakfast!"

After Breakfast, Nabiki excused herself from the table, "Well, it's time I left for school."

Ranma and Akane got up as well and after grabbing their lunches and book bags, followed Nabiki out the door. On the way, Akane noticed that Ranma seemed preoccupied with something. Before she had time to comment about it, he jumped off the fence and walked over to where the old lady with the water ladle usually splashed him. Akane yelled out, "Hey idiot, watch out!"

Instead of heeding Akane's warning, Ranma calmly walked by and allowed the woman to splash him. As the curse quickly changed Ranma into his girl form, he flashed a smile at the Tendo girls, "I need to be Ranko for a while so I can take care of something."

Akane thought, "_The pervert probably just wants to tease those stupid boys!_"

Nabiki watched as Ranma walked ahead of them and said, "This could be interesting. C'mon Akane. I don't think we want to miss this."

As they approached the school, they could see someone standing just beyond the campus gate and looking towards them.

"Oh pig-tailed girl, come to me so that we may embrace in our love together!" Cried Tatewaki Kuno as Nabiki, Akane and Ranma entered the school grounds.

Ranma gritted her teeth. As her battle aura snapped on she growled, "I have had all I can take with this fool! It ends today!"

Nabiki and Akane watched in surprise as Ranma ran up to Kuno's outstretched arms. The moment she was about to be obscenely grabbed by Kuno, Ranma extended her hand and in one rapid movement caused most of the male population of Furinkan High to cringe in sympathy.

Kuno was in extreme pain. Just as he was about to embrace the object of his love, something had latched onto his crotch in a vise-like grip. He looked down and to his horror, saw that vise-like grip was connected to none other than his pig-tailed goddess! Kuno tried to speak, but his mind was overwhelmed by the intense pain between his legs.

Ranma spoke in a threatening tone, "How's it feel to be grabbed, Kuno? Ya like it?"

Kuno couldn't answer so Ranma continued, "I've had it with you chasing after me, asshole! If you ever touch me again, I'm going to rip these off and shove them down your throat! Got it?"

When Kuno didn't answer, Ranma applied more pressure, "I'm not going to ask you twice!"

Kuno squeaked in pain while nodding his head vigorously up and down. Ranma released Kuno and as the Boy Blunder fell to his knees, Ranma glared, "Remember, if you so much as try to lay a hand on my body again, I will take those from you as payment."

Ranma turned and walked over to where Akane and Nabiki were standing in stunned silence. Nabiki spoke first and smirked, "That has to be a new record, Ranma. Kuno is on the ground, groaning in pain in just a few seconds and you didn't even hit him."

Ranma walked with the girls to class and smiled evilly, "He's had that coming for a long time. Maybe now the pervert will leave me alone."

Akane just shook her head and said, "I can't believe you grabbed him there. That was disgusting!"

Nabiki grinned, "Actually Akane, that might have been the best move Ranma's ever used on Kuno. Not only will he think twice about grabbing after his girl side, but the rest of the boys will probably give not only him, but you a bit of space."

Ranma chuckled a bit as they went their separate ways to class.

Later during lunch, Ranma walked over to where Nabiki was sitting with her associates, "Hey Nabiki, may I talk with you for a sec."

Nabiki excused herself for a second and walked over Ranma, "What's up Ranma, I'm kind of busy right now."

Ranma reached down into his pocket and pulled out a five hundred yen note. "Meet me at the canal where the bridge crosses for training later today after school."

He handed her the small note and continued, "Tell them I owed ya some money."

He then gave her a big smile and headed off to eat lunch. Nabiki turned and headed back to her friends and sat down. One of the girls smirked, "What was that all about?"

Nabiki placed the bill into her wallet before picking up her lunch and continuing to eat, "Just doing a little business. Can't be ignoring my customers, now can I?"

After school was over, Nabiki headed over to where she was supposed to meet Ranma. On her way, she saw Akane standing near the school gate. Nabiki thought to herself, "_She must be waiting for Ranma. But I can't tell her where he is, and I can't walk with her home._"

She saw an associate and called her over. "Yuki, I've got a business deal to attend to right now, do me a favor and tell my sister I won't be walking home with her today. Then let her know you saw Ranma leave a while ago."

As Yuki walked off to talk with Akane, Nabiki smiled to herself, "Ok, now to find Ranma."

Once she got to the canal, Nabiki had no trouble locating Ranma on the bank just below the bridge. He was sitting on a small blanket he had brought and appeared to be meditating. Nabiki climbed down and walked over to where Ranma was sitting. As she looked over Ranma's 'training' area she commented, "This canal is pretty dirty, Ranma. Why would you want to come down here to train?"

Ranma stood up and faced Nabiki, "This is one of the few places that I can be alone for a few minutes without being interrupted. I thought that we could work on your training and ki development here and have a bit of privacy."

"Ki…" whispered Nabiki thoughtfully. "Ranma, you brought that up once before. What did you mean by 'working on my ki'? I'm not a martial artist and I have no interest in being one."

Ranma smiled at Nabiki and said, "Nabiki, you are one of the strongest martial artists I know. You're powerful enough that even Happosai avoids getting you angry."

Nabiki's eyes widened, "I don't under…"

Ranma interrupted, "Look Nabiki. When you're doing business, how do you present yourself to your customers? You want to have the edge on them so you make yourself unreadable. Your face becomes blank and cold like a mask of ice. And in order to make the tough deals, your heart becomes cold as well. It's very similar to when I use the soul of ice technique. But in your case it's more of a heart and soul of ice. It keeps your mind sharp and focused and it protects you from feeling sorry for your customers when they say they can't afford your services or can't pay a debt."

Nabiki was stunned, "How can you know…?"

Ranma lightly tapped the side of his head and smiled, "I can sense ki, Nabiki. It's all around us and when somebody is channeling it, I can feel it. When that person uses large amounts of ki, I can see it flowing through them. When you're running bets or bargaining with Kuno, I can see the ki that you draw up from around you."

"Wha-what do you see?"

"Nabiki, when you are in your best form, I see you encased in an icy blue cloud. Most people can't see it, but I certainly can. When people are within your icy aura, they are held in its cold grasp as you make your deals with them. From that point on, the only thing they want is to get away from your icy grip, even if it means making a deal with you that puts them at a disadvantage."

Nabiki thought about what Ranma just told her and after a few moments said, "I never really thought about how I felt when I was making deals at the school. I enjoy the challenge of it all, and rush of when it all comes together."

Nabiki lowered her gaze to the ground and as she thought some more. Ranma reached out and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, "Nabiki, it's like I said earlier. You're a powerful martial artist, and when you're performing your art, you really become the Ice Queen."

Nabiki looked up at Ranma and said, "Is that what it is? I always feel so alive when I'm making deals or bets on fights and rumors. Could I actually be channeling ki?"

Ranma dropped his hand from Nabiki's shoulder and said, "Yeah Nabiki, you were using your ki. And, if you let me train you further on how to harness that power, I think that you may be able to control the temperature of the air around you. With that ability, you would be shielded from most kinds of attacks and be able to freeze your attackers into submission."

Nabiki just stared at Ranma and he said, "So how about it, Nabiki? Do you accept me as your sensei and allow me to help you control your ki?"

Nabiki thought for a few moments and then said, "I really like the idea of learning how to control this ability, but before I agree to that, Ranma, answer one question for me. Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you offering to do all of this for me? I've never really been that nice to you and while I really am interested in learning how to control my ki, I'm sure you would feel safer with me not knowing about it."

Ranma smiled at Nabiki for a few moments and then said, "I was wondering when you would get to that. Although you put up a cold exterior, you have a weakness."

Nabiki narrowed her eyes, "Oh? And what might that be?"

Ranma grinned and pointed at her chest, "You care, Nabiki. You hide it pretty good, but you really care about your family. Once I figured that out, I came to realize that without your financial help, the Tendo family and the dojo would have fallen into ruin long ago. Under that icy mask you're really a good person, Nabiki."

Nabiki sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "So, you've figured it out, Saotome. Now that you know, are you going to use it for blackmail? Get back at me for all the hard times I've given you?"

Ranma laughed, "Don't you understand? All I want from you is for you to be my friend."

Nabiki's eyes widened, "Your…friend?"

Ranma grinned, "Yeah, you know. We talk to each other about things that have happened to us, and we help each other out when there's trouble. Kinda like how Ukyo and I were when we were kids, but without our stupid parents messing it all-."

Ranma was suddenly stopped from talking further as Nabiki reached out and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug. With an uncomfortable lump in her throat she said, "I've never had a real friend before, Ranma. I have my business associates and my family, but I've never had a true friend."

Ranma gently patted his new friend's back and said, "Well it looks like ya got one now."

Nabiki released her hold on Ranma and smiled, "So Sensei, what's next."

Ranma became serious and said, "Okay Nabiki, I want you to sit down in front of me. We're going to meditate and I need to watch how you do."

Nabiki sat in front of Ranma and crossed her legs. "Close your eyes and listen to me. First I want you to relax your entire body. Start with your feet and working up to your head, let every one of your muscles relax. I also want you to keep your breathing steady."

Nabiki started to concentrate. She had done similar meditations with her father when she was younger.

Ranma continued, "Good, now work on your legs. Relax all of the muscles there. Now when you're done, relax your stomach and chest. Keep the breathing steady as you go."

Nabiki smiled to herself and thought, "_He actually sounds like a sensei!_"

"You're doing great. Now work on your hands and arms."

A little later, Ranma said, "Now relax your head. Start with the muscles first. Good…. Now I want you to work on your thoughts. Think of something simple like a favorite shape."

Nabiki smiled for a second as she immediately thought of a 10 yen coin.

"Okay, good. Now keep that thought in your head. When something else comes into your head, stick in a mental storage box."

Nabiki struggled to keep her thoughts clear. Hundreds of things were coming into her head. School, home, family, and countless other things popped up in her mind. Suddenly she heard Ranma say, "That's good Nabiki. Now gently place your hands out in front of you with their palms facing each other."

Nabiki did so.

"Now I want you to keep yourself relaxed as you start to feel the earth. Imagine your body is part of the earth. Imagine your body is tuned to the earth's energies. Imagine those energies flowing through your body and collecting in your hands."

Nabiki worked hard as she followed Ranma's instructions. Suddenly she felt a cool breeze wash over her. It reminded her of what it was like to be riding on a boat on the ocean.

Ranma spoke softly as he encouraged her. "Good…good…you're doing great, Nabiki."

As Nabiki concentrated she noticed her hands were starting to feel cold. She was about to ask him about it when he said, "Alright, I want you to open your eyes very slowly. But keep concentrating on your ki."

Nabiki started to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was a faint blue glow around her hands. She gasped when she saw this and it immediately vanished into the air.

"What the hell?"

Ranma was grinning from ear to ear, "Did ya see it, Nabiki? Man, I can't believe you made a ball of ki on your first try. You're a natural!"

Nabiki stared at her hands and said, "K-ki ball…?"

"Yeah! It was a soft blue ball and it looked frosty cold!"

Nabiki suddenly felt a bit dizzy and when she placed her hand on her forehead, Ranma said, "The first couple of times I did that, I got a bit dizzy too. It goes away after you start to get used to the control."

Nabiki looked at Ranma and said, "It's fading fast. I hardly feel it anymore."

Ranma was still grinning, "That's good. Let's make time to be here again tomorrow."

Nabiki looked towards the street and said, "Ok, but it's getting late now. We better head on home before we're missed."

With that, they climbed out of the canal and headed home.


	3. Ukyo

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

_Ukyo_

That night at the dinner table, everyone was enjoying another one of Kasumi's wonderful meals, when Akane suddenly asked, "So Ranma, where were you this afternoon after school? Did you and Shampoo have fun on your date?"

Ranma almost spat his food across the table as he grabbed a glass of water to clear his throat. Once he had control of his voice again, he said, "What do you mean? I wasn't with Shampoo! Heck, I haven't seen her all day."

Akane smirked as she picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks. "Well, you certainly weren't with me when I walked home."

Soun looked over at Ranma and eyed him sharply. Ranma said, "I had important business to take care of, Akane."

Akane placed her chopsticks down and asked, "What kind of business?"

Ranma glanced at Nabiki and after a moment said, "It was…personal."

Akane's eyes darkened as she said, "So you admit you were with Ukyo then, or perhaps Kodachi."

"Kodachi? I can barely stand to be in the same room with that crazy chick! She makes my skin crawl!"

Akane pressed on, "Oh, I don't know Ranma. A pervert like you would have a lot of fun with a crazy bimbo like her!"

Ranma was taken back by Akane's remarks. This wasn't her normal batch of little jabs she gave him all the time. This was a lot meaner. As Akane's battle aurora started to glow, Ranma said, "Look Akane, I wasn't with either of those girls. I wa-"

Before he could finish, Nabiki interrupted and said, "He was with me, Akane. I've been helping Ranma with his studies and he owes me big time. Instead of paying me in yen, he treats me to an ice cream sundae."

Akane's battle aurora cooled a bit as her older sister continued, "He isn't going to be much of a dojo master if he doesn't have a proper education and the only way he is going to get it is if someone helps him out with his studies. I'd be happy to help you with your class studies as well…for a small fee of course."

Akane's face reddened slightly and she said, "I'm doing ok in my studies, Nabiki. I don't need a tutor."

Nabiki smiled as she got up from the table. "If you say so, sis. Just remember, if you interrupt us while I'm helping Ranma study, I'll have to charge you for that time. Understood?"

Akane nodded her head to Nabiki. For the moment, she had forgotten all about Ranma and began to slowly eat the rest of her dinner.

When he finished eating, Ranma quietly got up from the table and started to walk outside. When Kasumi looked up at him, he said, "I need to work out for a while and unwind. By the way Kasumi, thank you for the wonderful meal."

Kasumi flashed one of her patented smiles and as he left she thought to herself that the boy she once thought as being too young seemed to have matured a bit.

Later that night Nabiki was going over the last of her homework when she heard a soft knock on her door. Nabiki smiled to herself without really knowing it, got up and opened the door quietly to reveal Ranma standing in her doorway. She motioned him to come in and softly closed the door after he was in the room. She walked over to him and asked, "So Ranma, did you have a nice workout?"

Ranma sat down on the edge of her bed and said, "You know Nabiki, tonight was the first time I can remember that doing my katas didn't help clear my head. I don't feel much better than when I started."

Nabiki looked at Ranma but didn't say anything while she waited for him to continue.

"I've tolerated Akane's accusations and beatings all this time because they've always been little things. Kinda like the sort of kidding that guys do to each other. But tonight…Well, you saw how she cut in right in the middle of dinner with that fiancé stuff, only this time it was downright mean. Out of nowhere she started in with the fiancés and accused me of being on dates with Ukyo and Shampoo. Then she went in for the kill and started saying that I'd be a good match for Kodachi. Kodachi! She knows that screw ball gives me the willies!"

Ranma took a deep breath and after he calmed himself, looked at Nabiki and said, "By the way, thanks for saving me back there. I was starting to lose it and if you hadn't jumped in, I would have gotten knocked across Tokyo again."

Nabiki drawled, "You're the one who said that friends helped each other when they were in trouble. Well, I was just doing my part to help my friend."

Ranma smiled at Nabiki and said, "You did good down there, but you need to be careful when it comes to Akane."

Nabiki sat down on the edge of her bed and said to Ranma, "You don't think that she would hurt me, do you? After all, even if we do get angry with each other, we're still sisters. She's never harmed me before, and I don't think that she would actually hit me or Kasumi."

Ranma walked over and sat next to Nabiki. He waited a few moments to get his thoughts straight and then said, "Nabiki, ya gotta always remember that while Akane isn't a great martial artist, she's extremely strong. She's been breaking bricks with her fists here at the dojo and beating up the hentai crowd at the school long before I came here. On top of that, when her battle aura is on, she can go into a blind rage and it's possible for her to do some awful damage without thinking. Remember when she smashed the balcony we were standing on and caused us all to fall? She didn't think about you falling until after she was safely on the ground."

Nabiki blushed slightly and said, "Yes…It's a good thing you were there to catch me."

Ranma continued, "That's why you have to be a bit careful of how angry she gets. And then there's that stupid mallet of hers. I can tell you from experience she packs a heck of a punch with that thing."

Nabiki thought for a moment and said, "I can imagine. What I don't understand is why you aren't in some kind of body cast by now. A normal person would have been beaten to death long ago."

Ranma chuckled softly, "I've been training almost all my life and a big part of that is how to take punches and hits. On top of that, between Pops, the Amazons and Dr. Tofu, I've learned a lot about how to heal myself. Even If I break a bone, I can meditate and by the next day it will have started knitting together. In a week, it will be nearly as good as new."

Nabiki shook her head, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. After the dozens of times she's pounded you into the ground or sent you into LEO, you're back up the next morning ready to go at it again. It's amazing how fast you heal, Ranma."

Ranma smiled a bit, "It's all about ki control, Nabiki. One of the things that ki can do is heal. If you draw up enough of it into yourself, it can be used to heal your wounds. This is one of the things I want to work with you later."

Ranma got up off the bed and turned to face Nabiki. He looked at her for a couple of seconds and continued, "If you continue to stand up to Akane, there is a chance that she might forget you're her sister and unleash her anger at you. I could never live with myself knowing that someone was harmed trying to protect me. Especially if it was my friend."

Nabiki looked at Ranma and smiled, "I'm a bit tougher than you think. I've also had a lot of experience dealing with my younger sister."

She paused for a second before continuing, "Do you have any idea as to how you're going to go about taking care of your fiancé problem?"

"Shampoo is extremely dangerous, especially when she has the old ghoul with her. Kodachi is so weird it's scary and I don't have an idea yet what to do about her."

Ranma looked down for a moment before continuing, "Ukyo is my friend and it's going to really hurt to have to tell her. She was the only real friend I had when I was a kid and we had a lot of good times together back then. Little did I know that Pop had ruined it all with an arranged marriage. Back then, I thought she was just another cool guy to hang out with. I had no idea that she was really a girl."

Ranma clenched his fists, "Man, every time I think about it I wanna beat the crap out of the old man for what he put Ukyo through!"

Nabiki waited until Ranma got his anger under control before she said, "Ranma, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to ask you a question."

Ranma looked at her for a moment and then nodded his head.

"Do you love Ukyo?"

Ranma's eyes widened a bit and he sighed, "No. I care for her a lot, but it's not like a man and a woman kinda love. She is more like a sister to me. She'll always be a good friend, but I can never think of her as being a wife."

"Well Ranma, if she is your friend, you are going to have to be honest with her and tell her that you cannot marry her."

"I know …, but I just don't know how to tell her"

Nabiki thought for a moment, "Perhaps what we need to do is get her to initiate the conversation and then you can tell her"

Ranma looked at her and said, "How am I gonna do that."

"Okay Ranma, here is what you're going to do. Tomorrow …."

The next morning, Nabiki watched as Ranma and his father sparred before breakfast. Ranma's father seemed especially angry this morning. Ranma was having to dodge faster than usual and taunted, "Whoa pops, you're actually showing a little skill today!"

Genma growled, "Boy, its time you faced up to your responsibilities as an honorable man and apologized to your fiancé for cheating on her yesterday!"

Ranma yelled back, "What do ya mean, cheating? I told you I had business with Nabiki!"

"You expect me to believe that? Boy, if you had any honor, you would tell the truth!"

Ranma had enough, and with a sudden series of lightening fast jabs, punched his father into the koi pond. Before he could climb out, Nabiki walked over to him and said, "Mr. Saotome, as I told you and the rest of the family yesterday, Ranma was with me for tutoring. If you continue to interfere, I will have to charge you for the tutoring as well. Do you understand?"

"Gruff." Said the soggy panda.

Ranma stepped inside and as Kasumi set breakfast on the table, he grinned, "Good morning Kasumi, I just wanted to thank you for that great lunch you packed for me yesterday."

Kasumi flashed another one of her brighter smiles, "Why, thank you Ranma. That so sweet of you to say so."

"When you make a lunch, it's the best!"

Kasumi blushed a bit at Ranma's compliment and continued setting the table for breakfast. As the rest of the family came to the table to eat, Ranma gave Nabiki a quick wink before eating.

Later during school, Ranma sat by himself under a tree eating the lunch Kasumi had made that morning. One thing he had learned from his stay at the Tendo's was that nothing served at school could ever beat one of Kasumi's packed lunches. Ranma was enjoying himself so much that he almost didn't hear the approaching footsteps. He continued to eat as the person sat next to him. After a few seconds, she spoke, "Ranma-honey, wouldn't you rather have me make you a nice okonomiyaki for lunch?"

Ranma looked up for a second at the chef and said, "Hey Ukyo. Kasumi packed me a really great lunch today and I'm not going to have room for any more."

Ukyo looked hurt and said, "You've never turned down a meal before. What gives? Are you sick or something?"

Ranma kept on eating and didn't answer, so she continued, "Well, when we get married, you'll never have to beg for food from Kasumi again. You'll have all the okonomiyaki you can eat!"

Ranma slowly put down his chopsticks and looked Ukyo for a few seconds. He then said, "Let me ask you something, Ukyo. What are you going to do for a living if we get married?"

Ukyo blushed, "Silly! I've told you hundreds of times I want to set up a large restaurant with okonomiyaki as its main dish. It's my life-long dream!"

Ranma looked at her seriously and said, "I see. And what would I be doing?"

"Why…helping run the business, of course."

"And how would you have me help you? I have no business education and I'm terrible with money."

"Well, you can change to a girl and wait tables. You know how customers love how cute you are."

Ranma darkened, "So let me get this straight. After I spent my entire life training to be the best martial artist there is, I'm supposed to give it all up and wait tables for your okonomiyaki shop?"

"Well…I…that is…."

"On top of that, you want me to switch from my male form that I was born with, into my cursed form so that a bunch of perverts can drool over me?"

Ukyo could only stare with wet eyes as Ranma continued, "Is that all I am to you? A cute little toy to toss to your customers to get them to buy more food?"

Ukyo answered in a weak voice, "I was only thinking of us, Ranma"

"Don't give me that. It's never been about 'us'. It's always been about you and what you want. I'm just a tool to use for your restaurant. An object! A thing!"

Ukyo started to get up, but Ranma was right in her face. "Let me tell you something. I'm never going to give up the art. Never! Just because we're friends does not mean that you have the right to demand I give up my lifestyle. If you think that's the way I wanna live, then you're living in a dream world."

Ranma could see that he was starting to get across to his old friend, so he pushed on. "I never even knew that you were a girl when we were kids. All my life I thought you were that cool guy that made great okonomiyaki and my best friend. Because of that, there is no way that we could have ever been engaged. If your pop and my pop made some kind of deal, then that's between you, your pop and mine. I'm not a part of it because you lied to me, Ukyo."

Ukyo stared wide-eyed, "What do you mean."

If I had known you were a girl, and that our parents had made an arrangement, I would be with you and we might even be married. But no. You had to go and act like some kind of boy and trick me. Now here you are, telling me that we're engaged. I don't think so. Guys don't get engaged to each other, Ukyo. If you have a beef with Pop about your cart, then you need to see him about clearing his debt to you. Leave me out of it because it's none of my business."

Ukyo snapped back, "What about your precious honor"

Ranma spat, "Don't tell me about honor! I made no deal with your father about marrying a daughter he didn't have! Whatever deal was made, was done behind my back and in secrecy. And, by the way, if you knew about it, then you're no better than my pop."

That was the final straw for Ukyo. She started to say something back, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, her eyes filled with tears as she broke down and started crying.

Ranma's anger softened as he watched his friend cry. As he fought for control over his own emotions, he said, "Listen Ukyo, I've always thought of you as my best friend. Male or female, that is what you've always meant to me. You know in your heart that we were never meant to be married, so let's just continue to be friends and leave it at that. Okay?"

Ukyo didn't say anything as she cried with her head bowed. After a couple of minutes, she got up and without saying a word, turned and walked away. Ranma fought with his emotions for several minutes after she was gone. He hadn't noticed that the bell for class had rung until Akane yelled as she ran by, "Hey idiot! It's time for class!"

Ranma sighed and after he picked up his stuff, headed to class. It was going to be a long afternoon.


	4. First Aid

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

First Aid

Nabiki hurried to the training place as quickly as she could. She had heard through her associates that Ranma was seen talking with Ukyo during lunch. From what she gathered, Ranma and Ukyo had gotten in some kind of fight. Nabiki looked down the canal and saw Ranma sitting under the bridge as before only this time, Ranma was in his female form. She climbed down to the embankment and walked towards her sensei. As she got closer she sensed that something wasn't right. Ranma was hunched over and looked depressed. When she got right up next to her she was sure of it. She bent down and placed her arm around Ranma's shoulder and said, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Ranma turned and looked at her. Nabiki could clearly see that she had been crying over something. "Kami Ranma, what happened?"

Ranma lowered her eyes and said, "I know we talked about it earlier, Nabiki. But it still hurts…"

"What hurts? Do you mean what happened with Ukyo?"

"Yeah, I told her during lunch. I told her that I wasn't going to marry her."

"I thought it was something like that. What did she say?"

Ranma wiped her eyes, "She took it…badly."

Nabiki tried to comfort Ranma, "You had to do what you had to do, Ranma."

"I know Nabiki, but that doesn't make it any easier. She was my oldest friend and I think that I may have lost her."

To Nabiki's surprise, Ranma leaned on her shoulder and started to cry. Without thinking, Nabiki hugged her close while her friend quietly let the tears fall. After she was done, she quickly wiped her eyes with her hands and said, "Thanks, Nabiki. I-I needed that."

"Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll be ok for now."

"Ranma, when you told me that you were going to clear up the fiancé business, this was part of it. You can't make all those girls happy if you're going to marry Akane. No matter what you do, they're not going to like it. I think that Ukyo took it pretty good if she didn't hit you with her battle spatula before she left."

Ranma smiled a bit. "For a second there, I thought for sure she was gonna belt me with that thing. But instead of clobbering me, she just got up and left."

"If she really is your friend, I think that she'll come back to talk with you. I think that if I was in her position, I'd want to."

Ranma looked at Nabiki and said, "I sure hope so. Thanks Nabiki. It still hurts, but I feel better now."

The two of them sat there and watched the water in the canal flow by. After a few minutes, Ranma said, "When I feel depressed, martial arts usually makes me feel better. I'd like to try a bit of ki practice with you if you don't mind."

"Are your sure you're up to it?"

"Yeah, it'll help me get my mind off Ukyo. Go ahead and start the relaxation exercise you did yesterday. Don't try anything yet, just get relaxed into a meditation state."

While Nabiki started to relax, Ranma moved around so that she was sitting right in front of her. After a couple of minutes he said, "Good work Nabiki. Now, I want you to place your hands in front of you like you did before."

Nabiki got her hands in place and Ranma continued. " Okay, now start to bring up the ki into your hands. Easy this time. We just want a small amount of ki."

Nabiki worked on what Ranma instructed until she felt the familiar cool air washing over herself. When she started to feel her fingers getting chilly Ranma said, "Okay…Real good. Now, take your hands, and slowly rotate them until your fingers touch. That's good. Pull your hands down until they are against your belly. Keep your fingers together, and do not stop until your hands are touching your belly."

Nabiki was just following Ranma's instructions. She had no real idea what to expect from what she was doing. It was no wonder then that she gasped and cried out in shock when she pressed the small ki ball into herself.

Ranma grabbed both of her shoulders and held her still. "That's ok, Nabiki. You did it perfectly. Now relax. Do you feel it now?"

Nabiki was feeling very good right now. The initial feeling of the ki ball when it was pressed into her was like getting splashed with icy cold water. She was a bit scared for a few seconds, but now she was feeling the effects of the ki and it felt like she was getting high on some kind of energy drug. She opened her eyes and said, "What the hell just happened?

"Have you ever wondered how I have been able to heal so fast? What you did is called ki healing. The energy you gathered into your hands, you then pressed into yourself. If you had been injured, you would have started healing very quickly. Because you had no injuries, it just made you a bit drunk for a couple of minutes."

Nabiki couldn't resist, "Are you trying to get me drunk, Ranma? Hmmmmm?"

Ranma was a bit flustered at Nabiki's kidding. "What? You know I wouldn't…I mean…I'm not that kind…."

Nabiki giggled.

Ranma stared at Nabiki for a few seconds and laughed, "I should have known. Alright student, I have a homework assignment for you."

Her eyes widened, "Homework?"

"Yep. I want you to practice your technique. The next time we meet here, I want you to be able to smoothly complete your meditation without my help. I also want you to be able to produce the low powered ki ball on your own. Try it each night before you go to bed, the meditation will help you sleep better and because the ki is your own, it can't hurt you."

"Alright Ranma." Nabiki said as she got up from the ground, "You've gotten me curious about this ki stuff so I'll follow your instructions and give it a try."

As Nabiki climbed up the stairs and out of the canal, Ranma smiled to himself, _"I'm really starting to like this teaching stuff. Nabiki's a great student too…."_

Later that afternoon, Ranma was going through his katas when he felt a presence in the dojo. Curious that he couldn't quite make the person out, he stopped and turned towards the door to find Kasumi quietly watching him.

Ranma grinned, "Hey Kasumi. What's up?"

The oldest Tendo daughter smiled warmly, "I just wanted to let you know that dinner will be ready soon, and to say thank you."

Ranma looked puzzled, "Huh?"

Kasumi smiled for a moment, "After our mother died, Nabiki had a lot of difficulty adjusting. I was able to help take care of the family duties, and Akane had her martial arts. But Nabiki had nothing. When I asked her if she could help balance the check book, she was very eager to help and has been taking care of the family's finances ever since."

Ranma smiled, "Yeah she does have a talent with money."

Kasumi lowered her eyes a bit, "Unfortunately, instead of helping her cope, she has used her skill of earning money to become cold hearted to her friends, and even her family. I was beginning to worry that we might need some professional help for my little sister. But then you and your father came to live with us. Although it has taken a lot of time, I have seen the positive effect you have had on Nabiki and I am very thankful to you for that."

Ranma blushed, "Ah…no problem, Kasumi."

"Don't forget. Dinner will be ready soon." She turned and headed towards the door, "We're having one of your favorites."

During dinner, Ranma was feeling pretty good. Not only had he gotten out from under the engagement with Ukyo, but Kasumi was pleased with his newfound friendship with Nabiki. He chuckled to himself a bit as he finished the last of his dinner.

Akane noticed this and was quick to question, "What are you so happy about, Ranma."

He smiled, "Nothing much. It was a good day today, that's all."

Akane darkened a bit, "Oh really. What was that bit at school with you and Ukyo? You two seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation during lunch."

Ranma took a quick breath, "It wasn't anything important. We just had to iron some things out, that's all."

"Is that why you weren't able to walk with me home again today? Because you were 'ironing some things out' with your cute fiancé?"

From outside on the garden steps a voice called out, "Actually Akane, Ranma-honey was telling me how he wasn't going to marry me. I assumed he made the choice to marry you."

Genma slapped Ranma on the back, "Way to go, boy. I knew you would do what's right and clear up your fiancé mess."

Ranma glared at his father as Akane folded her arms across her chest, "What makes you think I'm going to marry a pervert like him?"

Ukyo leaned against the door frame, "Well Ranma, if she doesn't want to marry you, who's it going to be?"

Ranma walked out into the garden, "Come with me and let's talk a bit, Ukyo."

She ran and caught up with her former fiancé, "So what's up, Sugar? I come over here expecting to see you and her all cozy on each other but instead I see the same old hostile Akane. Why would you break the engagement off with me when she doesn't want you?"

Ranma took a deep breath, "It's a bit complicated. I really care for her a lot, as I do you. But I'm bound to marry a Tendo daughter by honor. If it isn't going to be Kasumi or Nabiki, it has to be Akane."

Ukyo frowned, "What about my father's agreement? Are you saying that means nothing?"

Ranma shook his head, "No, I'm not saying it means nothing. What it does mean is my father is a lying cheat and has no honor. The only way out of this is to marry a Tendo."

"How do you mean?"

"Look at it this way. What were to happen if I married you? Oh sure you'd be happy for a little bit, that is until you found me dead."

She gasped, "Dead? What the hell are you talking about?"

Ranma sighed, "Because of the Tendo-Saotome agreement. It was made before I was born and I'm bound by honor to marry one of the daughters. My lying father violated that agreement when he promised me to your father. If I marry Akane, my father has to answer to you and your father for his dishonor. However, if I marry you, I and my father will be bound by his primary agreement with Mr. Tendo. Such a dishonor may well demand our lives in payment."

Ukyo placed her hand over her mouth, "No…"

Ranma nodded, "Yeah. Not something I'd be looking forward to."

Ukyo gritted her teeth, "That dirty bastard!"

Ranma turned towards her and placed both his hands on her shoulders, "Listen Ukyo, I'll never forgive him for what he did to you. As far as I'm concerned, you and your father can deal out any kind of punishment you wish to the panda and I won't shed a tear. What will bother me is to lose you as a friend. If the Tendo agreement kills our friendship, it'll tear me up inside. I'd like to think that we can still be the friends we always were."

Ukyo smiled, "That's quite a speech coming from a jock like you. I'm impressed. The truth is, Ranma, I gave it a bit of thought after school and for now, I'll agree to drop the engagement."

Ranma took a deep breath, "Thanks Ukyo."

She reached out and gave him a hug, "It's what friends are for. But if I catch her pounding you with that hammer again, I'm going to be sore."

He released her and stepped back, "I wish the other two were going to be this understanding. Kodachi and Shampoo are going to be a lot of trouble."

Ukyo smiled, "You knew that when you took the job, Ranma. Just let me know if things get out of hand and I'll be there to help you."

She waved bye and took off down the street. As she disappeared into the night, Ranma smiled to himself as he remembered he not only got rid of a fiancé but he still had his best friend. He was still smiling to himself when he entered the Tendo home.

Akane was waiting at the doorway, "So did you and your cute fiancé have a nice walk together?"

Ranma sighed, "Look Akane. You heard her yourself. She is no longer my fiancé."

Akane spat, "So? That doesn't mean you won't be seeing her after school."

Ranma began to lose it, "What the heck are you talking about, you crazy tomboy?"

Before Ranma could get into any more trouble, Nabiki interrupted, "Listen Akane, I've told you before that Ranma and I have been doing some tutoring together. You need to get used to the fact he will be with me after school for two or three times a week."

Akane glared at her older sister for a few seconds before standing up from the table, "Well, I need to get my school work done as well. Unlike some people I know, I don't need a tutor."

As she walked out of the room and headed up to the stairs, Ranma gave Nabiki a smile of relief. Nabiki's response was short and sweet as she responded with her own little smile before heading up the stairs to study, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the oldest Tendo daughter.

Later that evening, Nabiki had just finished going over her books and placing them in her school bag. She walked over to her bed and sat down with her legs crossed. With her eyes closed, she concentrated until she achieved the same mental state she had with Ranma earlier that day. When her mind was free of all interference, she concentrated on drawing energy from her surroundings and into her hand. After a few minutes, she shook her head.

"_Darn. It's not working._"

She tried again and still she could not get that familiar feeling to form between her hands. Slightly frustrated, she tried to think of what might be different. Suddenly, a vision of Ranma flashed into her mind and she chuckled to herself.

"_Well, well. You've been distracting me, Saotome._"

Once again she tried, but this time making sure there was nothing of Ranma in her mind as she meditated. As she cupped her hands, she was rewarded with the familiar cool feeling she had experienced earlier that day. Slowly pressing her hands against her belly, she gasped as the healing ki washed over her.

Smiling to herself over the accomplishment, Nabiki got up and crawled into bed, unaware of the pair of blue eyes observing from just outside her window, nor the nod of approval that followed.


	5. Kodachi

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Kodachi__

The next day was somewhat quiet as days in the life of Ranma go. Kuno once again got himself beat up attempting to free Akane from the "vile sorcerer", Ryoga appeared and challenged Ranma to another duel, and principal Kuno declared the pineapple to be the official school mascot.

Ranma and Nabiki didn't have training scheduled for that day and so Akane walked home with her fiancé that afternoon. During the evening meal, it was strangely peaceful for once with no uninvited visitors suddenly showing up and creating havoc. Even Akane was more quiet than usual with no jabs at Ranma about his other fiancés.

Later after bedtime, Ranma and Nabiki were sitting on the floor in her room planning their next move. Nabiki smirked as she pulled out a small stack of papers, "You know, Ranma, your making things hard on me."

Ranma blinked, "Huh?"

She smiled, "All this peace and quiet. Nothing unpredictable really happened all day today, and I wasn't able to get any bets going."

"But…"

Nabiki chuckled softly, "You're so easy to tease, Ranma. It was nice having a bit of peace for a change. Even your Akane was nicer this evening."

Ramna smiled, "Yeah, it was kinda nice at that."

Nabiki placed some papers on the floor and began to reveal her plan, "Tomorrow's the weekend off and our chance to take care of Kodachi. I'm going to call up one of my associates first thing in the morning while you get ready…"

The next morning there was a knock on the bedroom door of Kodachi Kuno. She was already up and had been fixing her hair, "Yes? What is it?"

The door opened and one of the family servants entered, "My apologies, mistress. This was delivered moments ago by a young, well dressed woman. She said it was urgent we give this to you as soon as possible. The letter is addressed from a Ranma Saotome."

Kodachi jumped up and ran over to the servant, "What did you say?"

She snatched the letter from the woman's grasp and read the writing on the envelope. Sure enough it was addressed to her from her beloved Ranma-sama. Her hands shaking, she opened the envelope and gently pulled out the carefully written letter.

The maid quietly closed the door as Kodachi read to herself:

_Dear Kodachi,_

_I have something really important to talk with you. Meet me in the park at 10:00 near the statue of the horseman. _

_Ranma._

Kodachi could not believe her eyes. She clutched the letter to her chest and twirled around as she exclaimed, "At last, my Ranma-sama is going to admit his true feelings of love to me!"

She turned and skipped down the hall to the bath and giggled, "I must get ready for my date! Surly this is what it's like to experience true love!"

As one teen prepared for her date, Ranma was talking with Nabiki in the dojo, "Well, she has that letter by now and is probably preparing a nasty surprise for me this very minute."

Nabiki handed Ranma the small package and said, "Take this before you see her. It should counteract all but her nastiest poisons."

"Do you have the squirt gun"

"Yeah, it's a long distant super-soaker that should allow me to hit you without her knowing. It also has 2 separate chambers. One for cold and one for hot. I'll have to carry the hot water in a thermos bottle because if I put it in the soaker right away, it will cool down too fast."

"Just follow my lead. I'm going to need your quick aim to keep her guessing."

Nabiki started to have a worried look as she said, "I sure hope this works, Ranma. That girl is the most unpredictable of the bunch. And not only that, she seems to enjoy hurting others physically. Please be careful."

Ranma gave Nabiki a smile and turned to go get ready. Nabiki then got her stuff ready so that she could go out with Ranma when they left the house. Once they were ready, the two teens quietly crept down the stairs and out the gate…right into a very angry looking Akane. "Where the hell do you two think you're going?"

Nabiki sighed and answered, "Listen Akane, I told you earlier that Ranma is paying for my services as a tutor. We're just going down to the library to pick up study materials and then we are going to spend the next couple of hours there going over several text books. We don't have much time, so unless you want to pay for my tutoring time with Ranma, we need to go now."

Akane's anger dimmed a few notches and she said, "Alright, but if I find out he's up to something, I'll have to punish him."

Ranma gulped.

Nabiki grabbed Ranma's arm and said, "C'mon. We're going to be late!"

They didn't say anything for several minutes, but after a couple of blocks of walking Ranma spoke up, "It's times like that when I'm not sure. I'm with her own sister and she still doesn't trust me."

After a few moments, Nabiki said, "She's probably just upset still about the wedding disaster."

Ranma thought about that for several minutes before replying, "Let me ask you something Nabiki. How would you feel if your husband wouldn't trust you to be out on your own, even if it was with a brother or sister."

"Ranma, you're not having second thoughts about this, are you?"

"Well, no…no, it's not that. I'm just worried that I'm not the kind of guy she wants to marry.

"What do you mean?"

"When pop and I first got here, she seemed to be a bit friendly to my girl side. But when she found out that I'm really a guy, she called me a pervert and she's been calling me that ever since. If that isn't bad enough, she nearly accuses me of trying to do something perverted with her own sister."

"Sometimes my little sister seems oblivious to what is around her. She lives in her own little world."

They walked a little longer and Nabiki said, "I noticed that you were meditating for quite a while this morning."

"Yeah, this is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done and I had to make sure my mind was in the proper state."

"What do you mean, Ranma?"

"Imagine that you had to stick your hands into a tiger's mouth. Deep inside you know that if you do, those razor sharp teeth are going to snap shut and slice your hands off. Kodachi is the mouth of that tiger, and I'm going to have to reach in to get to that sick little mind of hers."

Nabiki watched as Ranma fought to keep his emotions in check, "Ranma, we can do this on another day if you're not up to it."

Ranma shook his head as they entered the park, "This is a challenge, Nabiki. No matter what the danger, I'm gonna have to confront her and it's gonna be today."

After a few minutes of walking along the shaded walkway, they reached the location with the bronze statue of the horseman sitting in a small plaza. Ranma placed his hand on Nabiki's arm and said, "I'm gonna run up ahead and wait at that secluded bench by the grove of cherry trees. You walk on up at a nice and easy pace. When you get there, duck behind that clump of bamboo. If she's already there, use your soul of ice to mask your presence. Please be careful, Nabiki. That girl is totally insane and if she sees you, she'll hurt you. If I feel that you are in danger, I'll call it all off and we'll have to try again."

Nabiki gulped, "Okay, Ranma."

"Alright. I'll see you later."

Ranma turned and ran off to the meeting place.

Nabiki took a few breaths and followed at a much easier pace. After a couple of minutes, she came to the clump of bamboo that Ranma mentioned earlier. Behind the bamboo was a small bench for her to sit on. After she got seated, she dug into her pack and brought out the super-soaker and the 2 thermoses. She filled the one tank full of hot water and the other full of ice water. Once she got that setup, she took aim at where she could see Ranma sitting on the bench a dozen feet away. Everything was ready and all they had to do was wait for Kodachi to show up.

They didn't have to wait long, "Hohohohohohohoho…Ramna darling, I've come for our romantic date together. I hope you have not been waiting long, my love."

Ranma swallowed hard, put on his best smile, and patted the spot beside him on the park bench with his hand, "Ah there you are, Kodachi. I thought you might want to have a seat here with me so we could enjoy some quiet time together."

"Oh my, how romantic! And this is such a wonderfully secluded place to be alone together."

In an instant, Kodachi was sitting next to Ranma with one hand cradled around his arm and the other clasping his hand.

Ranma looked ahead and said, "I'm glad you came Kodachi. There is something very important that I have to tell you."

He then turned and looked into Kodachi's eyes, "I'm going to make a decision on the girl that I'm going to marry."

Kodachi's heart was pounding in her chest as she thought, "_Yes! He's going to ask me to marry him!_"

Ranma continued, "There are a few things I would like in my future wife."

"_He must want me! I have everything he could possibly need in a wife._"

"She needs to be cultured, a good cook, have good looks and a good sense of humor…"

"_Oh joy! I'm the best there is at all of those things!_"

Ranma paused for a moment and continued, "But even with all of those good qualities, there is one thing she has to also be very good at or it will be a doomed marriage."

"What is that, Ranma darling. You know I'd do anything for you."

Ranma turned and moved until his face was very close to Kodachi's and said in a soft voice, "The woman I marry will have to be a good lover. When she kisses me I want to feel like I'm in heaven."

"Oh Ranma, darling. You know I'm the only woman that can make you feel like a man."

With that Kodachi quickly reached around Ranma's neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. The instant their lips met Kodachi felt like she was in heaven. "_Now I've got you._" She thought, "_You're mine!_"

Kodachi's mental dance of victory was interrupted as she noticed a sudden change in her fiancé. His masculine lips suddenly felt very full. He seemed to have shrunken a few inches and most disturbing, his muscular chest was suddenly soft and squishy as if he had….

At that point Kodachi opened her eyes and looked at Ranma's face. While she saw his beautiful blue eyes, she also saw a whole lot of red hair. Kodachi suddenly pulled back from Ranma and stared in rage at the hated pig-tailed girl.

"You!" Kadachi shrieked, "What have you done with my Ranma?"

Ranma moved closer to Kadachi and in the sexiest voice she could manage said, "What's the matter Kadachi? I thought you loved me."

Kodachi moved back even further and yelled, "Are you crazy? Your just a little red haired slut my moron of a brother chases after. You're nothing but a disgusting little tramp! The mere sight of you makes me want to vomit!"

Kodachi turned to leave when she heard a very male Ranma say, "What do you mean, Kodachi? I thought you loved me and now you're saying I'm nothing but a tramp? I'm sorry, but that's not my idea of how true lovers treat each other."

At the sight of her love, Kodachi leapt towards Ranma to grab him in a fierce hug. The moment she touched him, his hair turned red as he changed again to Kodachi's foe.

As Kodachi gasped and shrunk back in horror, Ranma pointed towards herself, "Don't you get it?"

"We're the same person."

"I am cursed to switch between these two forms."

"If you want to love me, you will have to love both of me."

Kodachi screamed as Ranma changed back and forth from one form to another. "Oh my god! What are you, some kind of monster?"

Ranma drove her point home as she said, "You claim that you love me. I won't believe you until you say you love both of me."

"Noooooooooooooo!"

Kodachi curled up into a ball and began to whimper softly. Ranma had to concentrate to keep from losing his soul of ice as he said to her in his male form. "Listen Kodachi, you're a cute girl with a lot going for you. There are a lot of smart, good looking guys out there that would give almost anything to go on a date with you."

Kodachi looked up with tear-filled eyes and cried, "But they're not you! I don't want anyone else!"

Ranma spoke again, "I'm always going to be stuck with this curse. I don't like it any more than you do, and there's nothing I can do about it. Half of my life is going to be spent as the boy you're in love with, and the other half is going to be spent as a beautiful red headed woman."

Kodachi stared wide-eyed as he again changed into the pig tailed girl, "Does it…hurt to change like that?"

Ranma moved a bit closer to Kodachi and said, "Not physically, but emotionally it has caused me some stress and pain. When Cologne first came to Japan, she used what was called a cat tongue pressure point on me. It forced me to remain a girl for a long time. It was during that time I had my first…period."

Kodachi gasped in horror, "So the change is complete. You become a complete woman when you change?"

"Yes, while I have all of the advantages of a woman such as being much faster, I also have the disadvantages. I can be raped and I can get pregnant."

Kodachi's eyes grew wide in shock, "Wha-what happens if you're pregnant and you change back into a guy?"

Ranma frowned, "I'm not sure. There are stories of Amazon warriors being locked in a cursed form so that they can have children, but there are also rumors of horrible sufferings from cursed people who attempted to have children. Having a child is hard enough without also having the threat of losing it hang over your head because of a curse."

Kodachi imagined what it would be like to lose a child in such a horrible way and asked, "Isn't there some kind of cure? Surely with today's modern medicine something could be done."

As Ranma change into a woman again she glared, "There is no cure for this curse. This is magic, Kodachi! Real magic! I'm stuck with it until the curse is done with me or I die. Like it or not, this woman is a complete part of me and what I am. If you truly want me to love you, you're going to have to love all of me."

Ranma's eyes softened as she moved a bit closer, "Kodachi, I'll marry you if you caress me and kiss me as I appear to you now."

Kodachi looked at the cute little redhead sitting beside her and struggled with her emotions. "_How can such a thing be. It's impossible! Yet, I've seen it with my own eyes…so it must be true. Is it possible to love both him and her? Can I love her? I…It's…no, no, NO!_"

Ranma waited for Kodachi to answer. He could see that she was struggling with her emotions. He could only hope that he had guessed right about her.

Finally Kodachi spoke, "I…can't…love…you."

She then lowered her head and started to cry.

Ranma normally went to pieces at the sight of a crying girl, but the fact that he had the soul of ice up on and he was a girl allowed him a bit of control. Hesitatingly, she reached out and placed her arm across the girl's shoulder.

"There, there….Its gonna be ok." He gently patted Kodachi on the back and said, "Look, I've always thought of you as a friend and I'd like to keep it that way, if that's okay with you."

Kodachi looked up at Ranma through her tear soaked eyes and said, "You don't hate me? After all the things I've said and done to you?"

Ranma smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much."

After a little while, Kodachi started to giggle. Not the crazy laugh she was so well known for, but a very girlish little giggle. "I just thought of something…giggle. My big brother is…giggle…in love with you…giggle."

Ranma watched as Kodachi laughed and tried to continue. "All this time, he…giggle…was chasing his pig tailed goddess and he never realized it was you. Oh my god! Giggle…It's priceless! My manly brother has been chasing after another boy! Giggle…"

Kodachi reached over and gave Ranma a hug. "Thank you! On top of opening my eyes, you have truly made my day!"

She got up and after a short bow said, "I must go now. There is much I wish to discuss with my dear brother."

With that, she turned and skipped away.

After a minute or so, Ranma glanced over his shoulder, "It looks like it's safe for you to come out now, Nabiki"

There was a soft rustling as Nabiki got up and walked from around the clump of bamboo and joined up with Ranma. She held up the super-soaker and said, "It's a good thing we didn't have to switch you back to a boy. I used up the last of the hot water on that final change."

Ranma patted Nabiki's arm and said, "Don't sweat it. You did a great job back there and it looks like we won't be worrying about Kodachi anymore."

Nabiki chuckled and said, "It looks like Kuno may soon be having some problems with her, though."

With a big grin, Ranma turned to Nabiki and said, "Hey, I have a great idea! Let's go over to the ice cream parlor and celebrate with a big pair of chocolate sundaes. My treat?"

Nabiki placed her hand around Ranma's arm, "You seem to have found my weakness, Saotome. Lead the way!"

Unknown to Ranma and Nabiki, a pair of eyes glared at them from behind a secluded cherry tree with a growing and barely contained rage.


	6. Sundaes

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Sundaes

Ranma, still in girl form sipped her ice cream float, "Man these things are the greatest."

Nabiki smirked, "I can't believe you, Ranma. There's nothing that says guys can't enjoy a nice bit of ice cream."

The redhead smiled as one of the boys brought over another free glass, "Maybe so, but I wouldn't be getting this sort of treatment as a guy."

Nabiki chuckled, "The cute looks probably help too. You're positively shameless, Saotome."

Ranma smirked, "Nah, I just know a good thing when I see it."

"I gotta admit, if I had your good looks and build, I'd be taking advantage of it too."

Without thinking, Ranma commented, "What do you mean? You're looks and build are just as good as mine."

Nabiki purred, "Why Ranma….was that a compliment?"

Ranma suddenly froze, "I…"

Nabiki leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand, "Hmmmmm?"

"Ah…that is I…well, you're…"

Nabiki sat back in her chair and smiled as she stirred her float with the straw, "Thank you, Ranma. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me."

Ranma took a deep breath, "Ah, sure. You're welcome…."

Nabiki smiled to herself as she sipped her float. After a minute or so of friendly silence, Ranma spoke up, "Kasumi said that Ryoga came by yesterday looking for me. Pig-boy probably wanted to challenge me again."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow and looked at Ranma with a serious face, "You're talking about P-chan, right?"

Ranma suddenly panicked, "Erp! Well…that is...I er ah…."

Nabiki sighed, "Listen Ranma, I've known about Ryoga's dirty little secret ever since you made that silly promise to him when you first found out about his curse."

Nabiki's face softened as she continued, "I also know that you have tried everything you could to get my dense sister to realize who her pet pig actually was. Honestly, after seeing you, Shampoo and Mousse change, you'd think that she would have put two and two together and figured it out. She's worse than Kuno!"

Ranma cracked her knuckles, "I've run out of ways to make her get the hints I've been dropping. That pig's been crawling in her bed every night he visits and it's really pissing me off."

Nabiki held up a finger, "Ranma, let's look at this from a different point of view. Ryoga is a fellow martial artist and a former friend of yours."

Ranma interrupted, "Wait a minute. Former friend?"

Nabiki's eyes flashed, "Don't tell me your still friends with the same guy that's been sleeping with your finance. After doing that he can't still be your friend, can he?"

Ranma thought for a moment and said, "N-no. I guess he can't be."

"Well, let me ask you something else. Who is more important to you? Your enemy or your fiancé?"

Ranma slumped her shoulders and answered, "My fiancé, of course."

"And the reason why you haven't told Akane about her P-chan is because you made a promise to Ryoga that you wouldn't tell anyone about his curse."

Ranma nodded her head.

"But Ranma, isn't it dishonorable to allow him to sleep with your fiancé and do nothing about it?"

"Yes it is, but I promised Ryo-."

Nabiki waved her off, "Let me get this straight. You can't tell Akane about Ryoga because of your honor to him, but you can still be honorable and let him sleep with her. Are you saying that your honor with your enemy is more important than your honor with your fiancé?"

Ranma opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. She just stared at Nabiki as her mind went over what she said. Finally she said, "No, you're right. I can't allow this to go on any longer. I'm going to have to tell her and face up to whatever she does to me afterwards."

Nabiki saw that she had finally gotten her point through and said, "Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad about it, all I'm trying to do is get you to realize that something more than dropping hints is needed to get her to realize the truth about Ryoga."

Ranma looked down at her empty glass and said, "If I tell her the truth about him, she's gonna kill me first. Once she's through pounding me into the dirt, she's gonna find Ryoga and tear him apart. If she was to find out that you or any of your family knew, then she might hurt you as well."

"There's another way we might be able to handle this. It is going to involve you confronting him with skill and tact."

Ranma perked up, "Huh?"

Nabiki flashed an evil grin, "When we're though with him, the little black pig will be too terrified to crawl in her bed."

As Ranma listened, Nabiki went over her plan.

Later that afternoon when the two teens had gone home, Ranma got some hot water from Kasumi and went into the dojo to work out. Nabiki went inside and turned on the TV to listen to the latest financial information. After watching a bit of news about a recent auto recall, Akane walked over and sat next to her.

Nabiki turned down the volume, "Hey Akane, what's up?"

Akane was quiet for a moment as she clenched her fists, "Did you and Ranma have a nice 'tutoring' session?"

Nabiki could almost feel the venom in her sister's words, "You should be proud of Ranma, Akane. He's not doing this because he wants to. He's doing it for the good of both our families."

Akane glared, "Yeah, right. I don't know why you're sticking up for him lately, Nabiki. You know as well as I do he's nothing but a two-timing pervert. Hanging around with him is just going to get you hurt."

Nabiki's eyes narrowed for a moment as she shut the TV off and stood up, "Little sis. Who I see, and what I do are my business and mine alone. You, on the other hand need to get a grip on reality before it's too late."

Akane glared at her sister, "What do you mean by that?"

"That's something you're going to have to figure out on your own. Excuse me, Akane. It's been a long day and I need to take a bath."

Nabiki turned and left the room, leaving Akane to steam on her own.

Later as Nabiki soaked in the tub her mind wondered about her sister, "_What in the world is going on with Akane. I know enough about people to recognize a threat when I hear it and she was definitely on the border of becoming physical. Ranma was right. Her anger is beginning to get out of hand._"

In the dojo, Ranma had just finished his first set of katas and was working on the second when he felt a threatening presence. He turned expecting to see Mousse or Cologne, but instead was greeted by an angry looking Akane.

Ranma gulped, "Hey Akane, what's up."

Akane was already starting to glow as she clenched her fists, "So Ranma, did you and 'Nabiki' have a good time with your studies?"

"Yeah…yeah, sure. Nabiki's pretty good at that stuff."

Akane walked forward until she was just a few feet away, "Listen, Ranma. I don't know what you're trying to pull and I don't care what happens to your grades, but you better stay away from my sister if you know what's good for you."

Ranma could take a lot from his fiancé, but being ordered around wasn't one of them, "Hey, who are you to tell me what to do or who I can see? I would think you would be happy see me do something about my grades."

The youngest of the Tendo daughters was slipping in to full rage mode, "I don't care! I'm not going to sit by and have any of my sisters corrupted by a two-timing, womanizing, pervert!

That was the last straw for Ranma, "You know what, Akane? You wouldn't know a pervert if one came up and bit you on the butt. You go around claiming everyone's somehow all bad inside while you go and sleep with a pig of all things. You think you're a martial artist, but all you are is an uncontrolled brute of a gorilla. The only thing you're capable of with those thick thighs, big butt, and monster arms is bashing people. You're nothing but a thug, Akane, and you'll never learn to be a martial artist until you stop being mad all the time!"

Not saying another word, Akane reached behind her and found her faithful hammer.

"WHAM!"

Akane sneered at Ranma's still form on the dojo floor, "Well mister hot-shot martial artist. This doesn't say much for your skills, now does it?"

With that, she spun on her heals and stormed out of the dojo. A couple of minutes later, Nabiki carefully stepped in. Spotting her friend, she shook her head and walked over to kneel beside him.

"You know, Ranma, making Akane mad isn't going to help your cause much."

Ranma opened one eye groaned, "Tell me about it…."

Nabiki smirked, "Well at least she didn't bash you through the floor this time. This dojo wasn't really built to withstand her hammer attacks."

Ranma slowly got himself into a sitting position and after taking a few breaths shook his head, "I don't know what triggered it this time, Nabiki. She was angry when she walked in the door. It was like she wanted to get into a fight."

The girl shook her head, "It wasn't just you she was mad at. Before I took my bath, she confronted me as well."

Ranma's eyes widened, "Jeesh! What did ya do?"

Nabiki smirked, "Nothing really. I just told her she was being unrealistic and walked away from her."

Ranma reached out and clasped Nabiki's hands, "You gotta be very careful around your sister, Nabiki. Whatever it is that's got her wound up is going to push her over the edge if we let it get out of hand."

Nabiki said nothing for a moment as she stared down at her hands in Ranma's, "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But caressing my hands like that isn't going to help the situation with you and Akane, Ranma."

The martial artist immediately blushed a deep red and pulled his hands away, "I-sorry about that Nabiki. I just don't wanna see you get hurt, that's all."

She smiled, "I said I wasn't complaining. But if little sis were to see you holding my hand, she'll most likely have a lot more pain in store for you."

Ranma touched the growing bruise on his forehead, "Yeah, you're right there."

The two sat there for a few awkward moments more before Ranma spoke up again, "Look, I really don't feel like going back in the house this soon. How about we take a look at your ki ability. I'd like to see how well you've been practicing."

Nabiki brightened considerably, "Okay, that sounds good. I've been practicing on it a lot before going to bed and I think I have it down pretty good."

He smiled, "Alright. Let me see you get into a trance and produce a small ki ball."

Nabiki smiled as she immediately went into her trance. In just a few seconds she placed her hands in front of her and began to gather her ki. When she felt the now familiar chill, she pressed her hands into her stomach.

"Eek that's cold! It feels pretty good, but I'll never get use to it."

Ranma laughed, "Excellent Nabiki! You really have been practicing. I wasn't too sure but now I can see its time to move you to the next step. We'll meet at the same place tomorrow."

Nabiki grinned, "I can't wait. This is really beginning to interest me, Ranma"

Ranma smirked as they got up from the dojo floor, "You aint seen nothing yet."


	7. Icicles

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Icicles

The next day, Ranma and Nabiki met down at the canal. Ranma was already under the bridge getting prepared as Nabiki started to climb down.

When Nabiki walked over, Ranma asked, "Well, are ya ready to try some more?"

Nabiki frowned slightly, "I ran into one of your problems. Shampoo."

Ranma gritted his teeth, "She's going to be a lot of trouble. What did she want?"

"Oh the usual." Nabiki placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side, "Where Ranma?"

Ranma rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I figured she'd show up soon. I heard the Amazons were over in China for a bit. Looks like they're back."

"We'll deal with them later." Nabiki sat down on the blanket and smiled, "Right now, I want to get in some more training. I never realized so much was possible."

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, experiencing it for the first time can be a real eye opener."

Nabiki folded her hands on her lap, "So sensei, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, first I want to practice your meditation for a short bit as well as the ki-healing technique we worked on earlier. After we're done, we'll try something new."

"I'd like that."

"Alright, if you're ready, we will do the meditation exercise first."

After they were done with the meditation and healing exercises, Ranma said, "Ok, I want you to have a seat here and face the canal."

Nabiki did as she was asked and said, "Okay, now what?"

"We're going to do something you already know, but with a higher level to it."

Ranma sat down in front of her and said, "Instead of working on ki balls, we're going to work on controlling your surroundings. I'm going to have you try and lower the temperature of the air a bit."

Nabiki looked up, "We're going to chill the air?"

Ranma chuckled, "In a way, yes. But we're going to take it nice and easy, Okay?"

She nodded, "Okay."

"Alright. Get into your meditated state. You should be able to hit it a lot faster now. Nod your head when you're ready."

Half a minute later, Nabiki nodded her head to Ranma.

"Good. Very good, Nabiki. Before, I had you draw energy out of the ground. This time it's going to be different. This time you're gonna draw energy out of the air around you and feed it to the earth."

Nabiki nodded her head.

"I want you to open your eyes for this one. Good. Now place your hands with your palms up and concentrate on the nice warm air around your hands. Feel it as it moves around your fingertips. Now imagine that you're sending that nice warm air down into the earth. Imagine it flowing through your body and into the ground."

As Ranma guided Nabiki, she smiled and thought to herself, "_He's going to be a great teacher when he starts to hold classes in the dojo. This is such fun!_"

Nabiki watched her hands. At first she could not see anything, so she concentrated a bit more. After a while, she could just barely see silver strands extending from the air and down into her palms. As Ranma encouraged her and she continued to fine tune her concentrations, the filaments grew wider and brighter. Silver ropes of icy energy were now dancing across her palms as the heat was pulled out of the air. Suddenly, she was aware that Ranma had taken both of her hands and placed them together palm to palm.

She looked over at him and said, "I'm sorry Ranma, did I do something wrong?"

Ranma looked up and said, "Let's just say we needed to stop before things got out of hand."

Nabiki looked up in the same direction and gasped. The bridge abutments were covered in a soft white frost while the arches of the bridge glistened with hanging icicles.

Ranma placed his hand Nabiki's shoulder and instructed, "If I hadn't stopped you, it might have gotten dangerous. From now on, we are going have to use caution. I'm pretty sure that you're protected, but I'm not. The cold you were creating was getting pretty intense, even for me."

Ranma waited for a few moments before he continued, "We need to get a handle on your control if we are going to go further in your training. Tell me exactly what you felt."

Nabiki looked at Ranma and said, "I was watching my hands as I concentrated. I could see what looked like silver filaments extending into the air. They started to get larger and longer and it was shortly after that you stopped me. All I felt was the warmth of the air like you said. I felt nothing cold this time."

Ranma thought for a moment, "Hmm…I think that perhaps we need a small target for you to concentrate on. Without one, you may be sucking all of the heat from the air around you. Let's try this. See that small leaf sitting on that rock over there?"

Nabiki nodded as she located the little leaf that Ranma was pointing at about 10 feet away.

"This time, I want you to concentrate on just that little leaf. Draw the energy out of it and into yourself. Remember to keep channeling that energy through yourself and into the ground."

Nabiki nodded again and then asked, "Why do you want me to try and push the warmth away? I would think that it would good to keep it."

"With small amounts such as this, it would be ok. With larger amounts, the excess heat would hurt you, possibly even burn you. You should learn now to keep everything in balance while you channel so that if you get a sudden flash of energy drawn to you, it will be that much easier for you to get rid of it."

"I certainly don't want to get burned."

Ranma smiled and said, "That's why we're gonna take it a bit easy this time. Here's what I want you to do. After you get back in your meditation state, place one of your hands out in front of you. Pretend that the leaf is within your grasp and slowly close your fingers until they would be in about the right position to hold it."

As Ranma waited for Nabiki to get ready, he was pleased to see how quickly she was able to prepare herself and reach out to the leaf.

"Okay, now concentrate on only the leaf and draw the heat out of it. As you feel the heat come to you, send it down and in to the ground. Easy now. We don't want to go too fast this time."

Nabiki concentrated on the leaf. It was becoming much easier for her as she imagined the leaf in her fingers and the heat pouring out of it and into her hand. Once again, she saw the silver threads extending to her fingers and again, the threads started to grow in numbers and size. Remembering what Ranma said, she forced herself to limit those threads until they were small in size and few in numbers. Everything was going very well, when suddenly the filaments stopped.

Nabiki looked over at Ranma and said, "It stopped. I was doing like you said and suddenly it just stopped."

Ranma looked over at the leaf and said, "I don't understand. It should keep on drawing the heat out, unless…."

Ranma got up and walked over to the leaf to take a look. After a moment, he turned and asked, "Nabiki, do you happen to have a pair of chopsticks on you?"

Nabiki pulled a pair out of her purse. "Will these do?"

Ranma took the chopsticks, "These should do nicely."

He then bent down and picked up the leaf with the chopsticks. As he brought it close to look at, he could see that it was covered with a fine frost and there was a fog drifting off of it somewhat like what dry ice does. He held it out for Nabiki to look at. "Check it out. Have you seen anything like this before?"

Nabiki looked at the leaf and after a moment her eyes went wide in surprise, "Ranma! I know what that is. It was demonstrated to us it in science class during a cryogenics lecture."

"Huh?"

"Yes. The teacher took a common rose and dipped it into a container of liquid nitrogen. When he pulled the rose out of the liquid, it looked a lot like this leaf. When the teacher took the rose and tapped it against the desk, it shattered like glass into a million pieces."

Ranma held it away from him, "You mean like this?"

He then flicked his finger against the leaf. The instant Ranma's finger made contact with the leaf, it shattered into a thousand pieces as if it was made of fine glass. The pieces of frozen leaf sparkled in the sunlight as they fell to the ground.

As they looked at the tiny glistening spots on the ground Ranma could only say, "Whoa…."

Nabiki blew a soft whistle and said, "Well, now we know what happened."

Ranma turned and looked at Nabiki.

Nabiki continued, "I concentrated the entire heat draw on that tiny leaf. It wasn't long before the temperature dropped to super cold levels. Without a thermometer there is no way of telling, but if I couldn't draw any more heat out of it, then that means there was no heat left to draw. The temperature of that leaf probably dropped to hundreds of degrees below zero. At those temperatures, it behaves just like glass."

Ranma thought for a moment about what Nabiki said before speaking, "We have to be very careful from now on, Nabiki."

Ranma reached across and grasped one of Nabiki's hands with both of his and continued, "What you just did could be used as a weapon. You could freeze a person's eyes, or his hands, or even his heart. Before we go any further, I want you to promise me on your honor that you will never use this skill in anger. You can use it to save your life or that of your loved ones, but never to just punish, and never out of anger."

Nabiki looked up at Ranma and into his eyes. "_Those eyes! He's really serious about this and he's really worried about me. Who would have thought Ranma, the macho jock would be worried about me? He's worried about me and he's…he's holding my hand again..._"

Nabiki found herself clasping her other hand around his, "I promise, Ranma, on my honor that I will never abuse this ability or to use it just to hurt people."

Ranma spoke softly as he said, "Thank you, Nabiki. That means a lot to me."

He stood up and after helping her to her feet said, "In the next few days, we are going to have to work on control. I want you to be able to chill that leaf to any temperature you want."

As they got ready to head home, Nabiki nodded, "You know, at first I wasn't that keen on learning any of this or training with you. But now, I can't get enough of it!"

Ranma smiled as he thought to himself, "_I know what you mean!_"

Later that evening during dinner, things were quieter than they had been. Akane laid off of Ranma for a bit and the household enjoyed a peaceful dinner. Later at bedtime, Nabiki was about to begin a bit more practice when there was a knock at the door.

Expecting to see Ranma, she was quite surprised when Kasumi greeted her as she opened the door. "Kasumi? You're up awfully late."

Kasumi entered and gently sat herself on the edge of the bed. She patted the spot next to her, "I would like to talk to you for a bit, Nabiki."

Surprised to see her older sister so serious Nabiki hesitated, "Is something wrong? You're usually in bed at this time."

She flashed Nabiki one of her patented smiles and nodded, "True enough, but now that everyone, including Ranma is quite asleep, you and I need to talk a bit."

Nabiki swallowed, "About what?"

Kasumi closed her eyes for a bit, "Our Mother's side of the family is very old, Nabiki. Throughout its long history, we have possessed skills in ways not well understood by the outside world. Had our mother lived, you and Akane would have been trained in those skills that have, up to now been dormant in each of you. Her untimely death changed that, and for some time now I believed you two would never learn of your true destinies.

Nabiki sat down, wide eyed, "Why didn't we ever hear of this?"

Kasumi smiled, "I'll get to that a bit later. Without mother to train you, I thought your abilities would be lost. But Ranma's presence here in this house has changed that for both of you. Even though it is not supposed to be, his appearance has awakened those powers in you. You may have already seen your younger sister's violent talents. She is a warrior, a berserker if you will, and if trained properly could be more than a match for any of the Amazons."

"Yeah, that sort of makes sense. But what about us. What is your skill…for that matter, what is mine?"

Kasumi chuckled, "I should think that after today, you would know the answer to that question, Nabiki. I must tell you, though, that your skill is not common, and it has not been seen in our family for hundreds of years."

"So what am I?"

Kasumi smiled and stood up, "Before I tell you that, Nabiki, come with me to my room for a couple of minutes, please."

Nabiki shook her head and followed her older sister to her room. After they had both entered and closed the door, Kasumi walked over to her closet and pulled out a small wooden chest.

While she opened the latches she smiled, "This chest was mother's, Nabiki. It contains something that she wanted you to have when the time was right."

Kasumi stood up and walked over to her bed. She laid a brown cloth wrapped bundle on the bedspread and opened it. Smiling to herself, she lifted a beautiful blue and white kimono and laid it on the bed.

Nabiki gasped as she touched the fine fabric, "It-it's beautiful, Kasumi. This was Mom's?"

Kasumi shook her head, "No, she made this especially for you, sister. To help protect you."

Nabiki slid her hand over the fabric, "I don't understand. How can this beautiful cloth protect me. It looks so fragile."

"This is attuned especially to you, Nabiki. Mother created and enchanted the fabric to enhance your ability and to protect you from the energies that will soon rage around you."

Nabiki turned towards her sister, "I don't understand…"

Kasumi smiled warmly as she pointed towards the kimono, "You, my dear sister, will soon learn to control the very forces of heat and cold. You are an ice mage."


	8. PChan

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

P-Chan

_From the last chapter: Kasumi smiled warmly as she pointed towards the kimono, "You, my dear sister, will soon learn to control the very forces of heat and cold. You are an ice mage."_

Nabiki blinked, "An ice mage? What do you mean?"

Kasumi gently folded the kimono, "I feel you already suspect the answer to that, sister. An ice mage is one that has the power to move heat from one place to another, to draw it out. By channeling this power you can freeze most things down to almost absolute zero. Even in today's modern times, a fully trained ice mage is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

She raised an eyebrow and drawled, "You've got to be kidding me."

She handed the bundle to Nabiki, " It's no joke. By the slimmest of odds, you have inherited one of the family's greatest treasures. How you choose to use it is up to you, but I should warn you that good attracts good, and evil attracts evil."

Nabiki chuckled, "When did you become so philosophical, Kasumi?"

"Just one of my talents, dear sister."

"So what is your talent? You did say you were going to tell me earlier."

Kasumi nodded, "I thought you might have guessed by now. I am a peace keeper…a priestess of harmony. This home is my temple, and while I am here, no lasting harm can come to it, or anyone within its walls. Although Akane fights my influence due to my lack of training, I make people feel comfortable and at peace with themselves and their surroundings."

Nabiki whispered slightly under her breath, "Not all people."

Her older sister tilted her head to one side and questioned, "What was that, sister? I didn't quite hear you."

Embarrassed by her little slip, Nabiki blushed, "It's just that…what about Dr. Tofu?"

Now it was Kasumi's turn to blush, "Ono…?

Nabiki nodded and Kasumi blushed even more as she continued, "As I said earlier, I have not been fully trained in my skill. Although I have kept it a secret for some time, I am very fond of our doctor. Unfortunately, poor Ono can feel this attraction as well as my ability and it causes him to become quite giddy. He completely looses all self control when he's close to me."

"Hmm, that does explain a lot…."

Kasumi continued, "I have found some texts on the subject in his library and hopefully I will be able to someday talk to Ono without him acting so silly."

Kasumi moved towards the door, "I will need a lot more training before I can fully master my talent, Nabiki. Until then, however, you have a capable instructor to assist you in developing yours."

Nabiki walked over to the door and stopped for a moment before turning, "It's going to be hard going to sleep. This is a lot to take in at once."

She reached out and gave Nabiki a warm hug, "Don't worry about that, sister. You will fall asleep as soon as you lay your head on your pillow."

Nabiki returned the hug and shook her head as she walked on over to her room to go to bed.

Across town, things were developing quite differently.

Cologne pointed with her walking stick, "Tighter, Shampoo! I don't want this fool getting loose again. He knows far too much and has seen the crystal. We can't let him leave here until I have finished casting the spell."

Shampoo did not look directly into the eyes of the unconscious Mousse as she chained him to the wall. Even though she punished the nearsighted martial artist on a daily basis, she felt sorry that he had to be chained up this way.

She gave the steel chains one last tug as turned to face him, "It okay mouse. This be over soon."

Sadly she picked up his robe from the floor and hung it from a hook by the door. Cologne watched out of the corner of her eye as she prepared the stone, "Remember, child. This is all because you were unable to convince son-in-law to return home with us. Because of your failure, we must now take the boy by force."

Shampoo bowed her head, "Yes great grandmother."

Cologne turned her attention back to the reddish crystal, "Mousse makes up only one of two elements we need for this spell to work, Shampoo. Before I finish my preparations, you need to bring the other two here. I don't care how you get them here, just do it."

As Cologne worked on the crystal, Shampoo took off into the night.

The next day Ranma and his father were sparring in the garden near the pond as they had countless times before. From the beginning of the session, Genma continued to needle his son about the engagement while they fought. As the Saotome elder tried to sweep the boy off his feet with a roundhouse kick, he scolded, "Listen boy, you need to learn to show respect for your fiancé and future wife."

Ranma sneered, "Ya mean like ya showed Mom when ya lied about our curses?"

Genma dodged a fist and blocked another, "That was different, boy. If you don't start acting civil to her, she'll never come to love you."

Ranma kicked the older man hard in the side and knocked him into the pond, "Right now, old man, that isn't my number one priority."

Ranma walked up to the steps to the dojo and picked up his towel. Across the room, Nabiki stood with her arms crossed and leaning up against a post. Ranma flashed a quick smile at her, "Hey Nabiki. How are ya doing?"

Nabiki shook her head and commented, "It looks like your father is back to his old habits about little sis. You'd think he would know by now not to provoke you when it comes to the engagement."

He laughed, "Yeah. The old man's got a thick skull with broken record inside."

Nabiki was about to comment when they heard from the house, "P-chan! There you are you naughty little boy! Oh, I've missed you so much!"

Ranma whispered a curse, "Damn…"

"Well Ranma, now's a good as a time as any. I've already talked with Kasumi and she's promised me that she will start things going so we can have our talk with Mr. P-chan."

Ranma nodded, "Right. I'll meet you later here in the dojo."

While Ranma got ready, Nabiki headed to the kitchen where Kasumi was busy cleaning up, "I'm sorry sis, but it's time. P-Chan is here and we need to take care of him."

"Oh dear. I just got the kitchen all nice and clean. Are you sure there's no other way, Nabiki?"

"We've been over this before. There's no other way to keep Akane distracted long enough for us to take care of the problem. And remember, you promised."

Kasumi sighed, "Alright Nabiki, I'll get started right away."

As she left the kitchen and started up the stairs, Nabiki softly said to her, "Remember, this is to help Ranma and Akane so it's for a good cause."

Kasumi didn't say anything more and turned to head up the stairs. When she was at Akane's door she knocked softly.

"Who is it?"

Kasumi opened the door and peeked in, "It's me. Akane, would you like to help me bake up a batch of cookies. It's getting a bit late and I need a hand in the kitchen."

Akane jumped off the bed and ran up to Kasumi, "Oh yes! I'd love to help with the cookies!"

Kasumi held up her hand and said, "I'm so glad to hear that Akane, but before you come downstairs, you're going to have to leave your pet in your room. It's not clean to have an animal in the kitchen when you're cooking."

Akane nodded and placed P-chan on the bed and said, "You're going to have to wait here while I go help bake cookies. Be a good boy and I 'll make a special treat for you too."

"bwee!" Cried a terrified little black pig as Akane shut the door and locked him in her bedroom.

P-chan was frantically looking for a way out of the bedroom when the door opened and Nabiki stepped in. "Hello Ryoga, it's time you and I had a little talk."

P-chan backed away, wide-eyed with fear as Nabiki approached him.

"Oh yes, I have known about your little secret for quite some time now. From the day I saw you jump in the pond outside and walk into Akane's room to sleep with her, I've known all about your curse. In fact, Akane is the only person in this house that seems to be fooled by your deceitful little disguise."

Nabiki produced a small thermos and said, "This is hot water. After I dump it on you, put on that robe and quietly walk down to the dojo. I will be following you and if you so much as think of getting lost along the way, I'll make your life a living hell you never imagined possible."

Nabiki glared at P-Chan for a moment to drive her point home. Once she was satisfied that the lost boy understood her, she took the thermos and dumped the hot water on P-chan. "Now hurry up and get that robe on!"

Ryoga quickly got into the robe and said, "Wh-why are you doing this? I've never done anything to you."

Nabiki gave him an icy glare, "We'll talk about this in the dojo."

Ryoga could feel the icy cold of Nabiki's aura and quickly became uncomfortable as it sent chills down his spine.

In a few minutes they entered the dojo. Nabiki shut the door as Ryoga took note of someone kneeling in front of the Tendo shrine. Moments later, the figure stood up, turned and faced the two teens.

The lost boy spat as he recognized his foe, "Ranma! You bastard! You broke your word and told Nabiki about my curse! Prepare to-bwee!"

Quicker than the he could move, a large metal cage was slammed on top of the little black pig before he could finish his attack on Ranma. Nabiki sat on the floor next to the cage as Ranma placed a heavy board on top and sat on it. The pig began to tremble with anger as Nabiki set the super soaker beside the cage and spoke. "I told you that I figured out your little lie a long time ago. You've been sneaking in this house as a pig and sleeping with my little sister."

P-chan stared at Nabiki as she continued, "Do you know how I make my money? I make it my business to know everything that's going on around me. I know the fighters at school and take wagers that I clean up on. I learn about the little lover's spats that happen all the time and sell information. And I gather embarrassing information on unfortunate idiots and use it as extortion when I need to."

Nabiki then produced a VHS tape and held it in front of the little pig. If you don't behave and do exactly as I say, I will take this tape to Akane and tell her that I have some very cute video of her little P-Chan. You know that she won't be able to resist watching it, don't you? You also know what will happen to you when she sees who you really are and realizes that you have been sleeping with her, watching her undress and even snuggling up to her breasts."

The little black pig's eyes widened in terror, "I will give you one last chance to listen to us as a human. If you so much as sneer at Ranma, I will squirt you with water again. While Ranma has you in the cage, I will let Akane see the video."

Nabiki formed a wicked smile, "Did you know that my little sister absolutely loves sweet and sour pork?"

Now completely terror stricken, Ryoga passed out.

Nabiki chuckled, and picked up the super soaker. "The water in here is ice cold..."

Turning to the pig she hit him with a jet of the icy water. Almost instantly the pig jumped up and shook its head franticly to get rid of the freezing liquid. Nabiki snickered, "Nothing like a bit of icy water to wake a person up."

He was wary of the middle Tendo daughter before, but now P-Chan felt completely terrified of the brown haired girl now glaring at him. As he stared in fear, she continued, "Alright then. I want your word of honor that you will sit here and keep quiet until we're finished with what we have to say. This will be your last chance, understand?"

P-Chan looked down at the floor for a few moments and then nodded his head in agreement. Nabiki smiled and picked up the teakettle, "Once you're human, put that robe back on and sit down on the floor."

After Ranma got up and raised the cage off the floor, Nabiki tipped the kettle and poured hot water on the pig. Instantly the transformation began and a moment later a very red-faced boy stood where a little black pig was just a second ago. Ryoga glared at Nabiki, "Turn around!"

Not the slightest bit fazed by the lost boy's outburst, Nabiki gave him an evil grin, "Not a chance, Ryoga! Now get that robe on and sit down!"

Ryoga could see something different in Nabiki's eyes, something deadly. Turning, he picked up the robe and put it on. Then he sat down on the mat and faced Ranma.

For the first time since Ryoga walked into the dojo, Ranma spoke, "I've always liked you as a friend, Ryoga. I've tolerated your attacks at me because you're the only person out there that can challenge me in a fight and come close to winning."

Ryoga clenched his fists and Nabiki reminded him, "A-ah! Remember what we talked about earlier."

The lost boy sighed and took a moment to calm himself. Then he nodded for Ranma to continue. "I've even tolerated your affections towards Akane because as a man, you have just as much of a right to court her as I do."

Ryoga's eyes got large as he realized what Ranma said. Before he could say anything, Ranma continued. "What I will no longer tolerate is you sleeping with her. It is dishonorable and you know as well as I do that if Akane were to find out, she would skin you alive."

Ryoga commented, "There's nothing you can do about it, if she picks me up and wants to cuddle me, that's her business."

Ranma cocked an eyebrow, "You think so? Imagine this. You go outside and hop in the pond out back. Then you waddle over to Akane who squeals with delight and hugs you to her chest. Two seconds later, Nabiki or I squirt you with hot water. Now imagine yourself naked and trying to burry your face in Akane's blouse."

Ryoga looked in horror, "You wouldn't! She'd kill me!"

Nabiki snickered, "That's about the size of it."

"What about your honor, Ranma? What about your promise to me?"

"My honor to you ends when it comes to Akane. She's my fiancé and I will never allow harm to come to her. I have been protecting her from attacks by the freak, from Kuno, and I will protect her from you."

Ryoga glared, "What do you mean by that?"

Ranma narrowed his eyes, "What I mean, is that P-Chan dies tonight. From this moment forward, you will never again see Akane in your pig form."

Ryoga jumped to his feet and screamed, "You have no right!"

Ranma's voice was low, controlled and very threatening, "Are you saying that I have no right to protect my own fiancé from harm? Are you saying that I have no right to protect my fiancé from perverts? Are you saying that I should allow another guy to crawl in my fiancés bed and sleep with her?"

"N-no, you're supposed to be protecting her!"

Ranma smiled at Ryoga, "Thank you. I'm glad we agree."

Ryoga's face reddened, "What do you mean? I'll never agree to anything you say!"

Ranma narrowed his eyes, "So now you're saying that I should allow harm to come to Akane!"

Before the lost boy could say anything more, Ranma nodded to Nabiki and she hit Ryoga with an ice cold squirt of water. The moment he turned into a pig, Ranma slammed the cage down on top of him and held it down. Nabiki walked over to the cage and glared at the pig, "You had your chance, pig. Ranma went out of his way to allow you to save your honor and compete for Akane's hand like a man. But instead you chose the path of dishonor as a sneaky pervert. Because you made that choice, I am going to expose you to Akane during dinner in front of the whole family. I don't need to remind you how my little sis feels about perverts, do I?"

"Bweeeee!"

Ranma raised his hand up, "Just a second Nabiki. I know that we discussed this earlier, but I'm going to make him one last offer."

"Ryoga, I made you an offer that was fair and man to man. You chose to ignore that and continue to be dishonorable. Fine. You have made your choice then. Still, I don't think that even you should have to face Akane's wrath. I am going to give you one last chance. You can sit here and wait for her to come in and deal with you, or you can take off and never set foot in the Tendo household as P-Chan again."

Ranma walked over to the door for the dojo and opened it a bit. Then he walked over to the cage and lifted it. Looking at P-Chan, he said, "The choice is yours. Face the music with Akane as P-Chan and deal with her mallet, or face her as a man while your curse remains a secret."

For a few moments, P-Chan glared darkly at Ranma, then he sighed and looked towards the house where Akane would be in the kitchen. With his head hanging low, he waddled over to the dojo door and stepped out. Nabiki and Ranma watched as the little black pig walked over to the gate and squeezed through the bars.

When he was out of sight, Ranma sighed and leaned against the dojo wall. "He isn't gonna give up that easily. If I know old Ryoga, he'll show up and challenge me again. No matter how far he goes, he always comes back to tell me I'm gonna die."

Nabiki rested her hand on Ranma's shoulder, "I know it's tough, Ranma, but you have to remember that if you don't do anything about Ryoga, he is going to continue sleeping with Akane. It had to stop now or he would continue to use his curse to drive a wedge between the two of you."

"Yeah, I know. I know it had to be done, but that doesn't mean I like it."


	9. The Amazons

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

The Amazons

Ryoga wandered aimlessly through the darkening streets of Nerima. Barely able to comprehend the events of a couple of hours ago, he only knew that his arch rival had somehow gained the assistance of his love's older sister. He shivered internally as he recalled the coldness of the girl and how effortlessly she made his skin crawl. What puzzled him the most was how Ranma was able to ally himself with Nabiki, a girl that on any other occasion would sell his rival to the highest bidder.

The little black pig was so engrossed on the subject that he didn't hear the soft but quick footsteps close in from behind. It was then no wonder he was quite startled when a pair of strong hands quickly scooped him up and stuffed him into a small metal box. He squealed in a frantic attempt to escape, but the latch over head was tightly locked in place.

There were several small holes around the box and through them, he could see that he was moving quickly through the streets of Nerima. The occasional chime told him he was on the back of a bicycle being driven at a fast rate of speed. Ryoga concentrated on attempting to identify his captor and he could see she wore a tight, blue dress and was well built. It wasn't until she turned to look behind her that he saw her face and fainted. Once again, P-chan had been captured by Shampoo.

A short time later, he was awakened by a course, but familiar voice. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with the ancient, shriveled face of Cologne.

The old woman cackled as he struggled against Shampoo's grip, "Well, well. Welcome to the Cat Café, boy. Under normal circumstances, we'd offer you some nice, hot noodles. However, I have other plans for you."

In an instant her finger shot out and struck the little black pig on the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. As she turned her attention back to her work she pointed towards the bath, "Get the boy uncursed and into a pair of pants. When you're finished, bind him to the left of Mousse with those special chains we brought from China. I don't need to remind you how strong this one is, so make sure you have him bound tightly. If he gets loose, he will ruin everything."

The next morning Ryoga awoke to find himself human and tightly chained to a stone wall. Examining the shackles and chains, he gave them a firm tug, only to feel a sudden, agonizing pain strike his back. Ryoga hissed through his teeth as Cologne walked into the darkened cellar.

She chuckled and tapped the chains with her staff, "Those chains are made of pure titanium, boy. You have about as much chance breaking those as Mousse here has of marrying Shampoo. That pain you felt is my added insurance. The bolts at the end of the chains are anchored to a stainless steel plate behind both you and Mister Part-time over there. Attached to the plate behind you is a hardened steel spike aimed directly at your heart. It doesn't matter how strong you are, if you use your full strength on those chains, that spike will pierce it."

Ryoga glared at the woman, "I don't understand. I've never done anything to you or Shampoo. Why are you doing this to me?"

She gave him a cold stare, "The game has changed, boy. It's time we took son-in-law and left for China."

Ryoga laughed, "That's what this is about? You're going to capture Ranma? Good luck on that, old woman."

"We captured you, didn't we?"

Ryoga was silent for a bit before commenting, "Look, if it's Ranma you want, release me and I promise to help you capture him. He still owes me."

She turned and pointed towards the still unconscious Mousse, "I can't trust you or him to do the job right. You're both bumbling idiots and son-in-law can easily take you out. I can't trust this mission to the likes of you two and so I am taking matters into my own hands."

"Wha-what do you mean by that?"

She cackled again, "You'll see soon enough, boy. But for now, it's bed time."

With that, she tapped him on the side of the head with her staff, sending the lost boy into a deep sleep.

Later that day, Ranma and Nabiki met once again under the bridge for training. Fog had crept in during the late night and the afternoon was still hazy with moisture. Nabiki chuckled at Ranma's uneasiness, "Well Ranma, at least it isn't raining."

The pig tailed martial artist glared at the misty sky, "It may not be now, but this weather has a habit of changing for the worse when it comes to my curse."

Nabiki smirked, "So are you going to worry about the sky all day, or are we going to train."

He shot her a grin, "Getting a bit eager, aren't you."

"It's all your fault, Ranma. Now that I've tasted this new talent, I can't seem to get enough of it."

"Spoken like a true martial artist."

She placed her hand on her hip, "I can't argue with on that any more. Not after what I've seen since we started training. So tell me, sensei. What's next?"

Ranma's face became serious, "I know you've been practicing, Nabiki. And while training is always important, I'm a bit worried you might get hurt. I don't know your power right now, and I don't know what it might do to you if things got out of control. So what I'd like to try today is to see if you can project your energy."

Nabiki tilted her head to one side, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Ryoga and I can throw blasts with our ki manipulations, but you're different. I thought at first you were the same, but your ability seems to surround you. I know you can freeze the air around you, and possibly something a distance away, but what we don't know is if you can project a force."

She couldn't help smiling, "What? You mean a ki powered snow ball?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps. We won't know until you give it a try. Do you see that far abutment over there? It's hidden from view from the bridge above and I'd like you to concentrate your energy on that spot. It's made of solid steel-reinforced concrete and I doubt you can harm it."

Nabiki nodded and closed her eyes for a few moments to get her mind under control. Once she was satisfied, she placed her hands in front of her chest about a foot away. As she concentrated, whitish tendrils of miniature lightening again danced across her fingertips.

Ranma placed his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed, "That's good. It looks like you're already building up energy within your hands. Before it gets too large, concentrate on your target and will it to strike."

She opened her hands and aimed towards the abutment, but only a small amount of swirling cool air seemed to move away from her.

Ranma smiled, "That was a good effort for the first time. Now, let's try that once again. This time concentrate on your energy buildup and your target."

She turned towards Ranma, "It didn't feel right that time. I felt cramped and uncomfortable."

"That's okay. Try it again and we'll see what happens."

Once again she began to concentrate on her ki and the intended target. As the power in her hand built up, she winced a bit and before she could fire again, Ranma gently squeezed her shoulder."

She let the energy fade and turned to face him, "What's wrong?"

He looked with concern, "I was about to ask you the same thing. You winced noticabley when you built up your ki. What's wrong? Was it hurting you?"

She shook her head, "No, it isn't that. It feels cramped, like it needs more room…like my hands are too close."

"Why don't you try spreading your hands as you build up your ki, when it feels good see if you can fire it off."

Nabiki nodded as she tried again. Concentrating, she built up the force between her hands and when a small cloud of light blue energy became just visible, she slowly spread her hands apart. The energy grew and crackled as long lines of white lightening danced between her hands and finger tips. When she had her hands about a foot apart, the energy split in two with each about two inches from her hands. She continued to separate her hands and stopped when they were a little over two feet apart. The energy balls stopped their growth and joined in an icy arc about three feet in front of her. As the balls in her hand condensed, the center of the arc suddenly fired. A whitish blue bolt of energy streaked across the distance and stuck the abutment with a loud crack.

Nabiki staggered a bit and rested her hands on her knees, "Wow, that took a lot out of me. How'd I do, Ranma?"

"Whoa…"

She turned and looked up at him and saw he was staring straight ahead. She followed his gaze and gasped. The entire abutment was covered in thick blue ice. Long icicles hung from the beams of the structure and blocked any passage under the bridge. The bridge, walkway, and canal were completely frozen in ice.

"Di-did I do that?"

Ranma nodded, "Yeah…."

Nabiki pointed towards some people now up on the bridge, "We need to leave, Ranma. All that ice is attracting attention."

Ranma reached down and grabbed her hand. Together they made their way out of the canal and back towards home.

Not too far from the bridge Tatewaki Kuno casually strolled through the market place, looking at the various wares for sale. Although it was quite a simple matter for him to have his servants do any shopping the Kuno family required, he was looking for something special. Still hoping to win the heart of Akane Tendo, the persistent teenager glanced at the various items for what he hoped would show his love for her. As he fantasized about the day when he and Akane would marry, he stopped and took notice of a lovely bouquet of red roses. He picked up a particularly nice one to admire and was surprised when a young woman moved close to his side and placed her own hand around the rose.

Somewhat surprised, he turned towards the forward woman, "I've seen you before, Miss. You're the one they call Shampoo, are you not?"

The young woman spoke with a friendly accent, "You look for pretty rose for sweetheart, yes?"

He blinked for a moment, "Ah…yes, I am looking for something appropriate for my true love."

The girl smiled warmly, "This rose nice. But this rose no for lovers."

He cocked his head slightly to one side, "No, you say?"

She continued to smile as she took the rose from his grasp and placed it back on the cart, "No. If you want rose of lovers you come with me. I show you rose just for you and girlfriend. She love them, guaranteed."

He was very interested now, "Truly? Do you know of such roses?"

She nodded, "I show you, yes?"

He smiled, "I would love to view your roses, miss. Please lead the way."

He expected the young woman to walk ahead of him, but instead, she reached down and grabbed his hand. They traveled through the streets for a short while and arrived in front of a small café. Before entering, he glanced at the woman and asked, "If I may, this establishment does not look like the sort of place one would find flowers. Might I ask why you have brought me here?"

After they entered, she immediately turned and faced him, "Welcome to Cat Café. You sleep now."

Before the boy could respond, he was struck across the temple by cologne and fell to the floor. The old woman cackled, "Very good Shampoo. Chain him up with the other two and we will begin."

Later that evening, Kuno awoke to find himself chained to a brick wall. He pulled on the chains and called out, "What is the meaning of this? I demand you release me at once!"

Cologne appeared from out of the darkness and pointed her staff at the boy, "You are in no position to demand anything. I suggest you hold your tongue."

Kuno was not in the mood to cooperate, "I'll do nothing of the sort, woman! I am master of the house of Kuno and I demand that you re-Aaaaah!"

The boy arched his back against the wall and screamed as the tip of the staff pressed against a key point on his chest. After several moments, the woman released him and glared, "There's plenty more where that came from, boy. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep quiet and watch your manners."

She turned and walked over to an old table sitting in the darkness. Kuno caught his breath and glared at her back for a moment before looking around. To his left he saw the other two and whispered, "I know of thee."

Ryoga rolled his eyes and whispered quietly, "Yeah, we know you too, Kuno."

"Why has that woman bound us?"

Ryoga clenched his fist tightly, "She is going to use us, to fight Ranma."

"Surely this is a good thing. The three of us will vanquish the scoundrel once and for all."

Mousse hissed, "You better hope so, rich boy. After she's taken over our minds, we will either win, or we will be dead."

Kuno was about to comment when Cologne moved into the light, "That's right, sonny boy. You're going to fight Ranma Saotome and you're going to win. If you lose, you die."

Ryoga glared, "What gives you the right, old woman?"

Cologne turned towards the table for a moment. Soon a dull reddish glow began to fill the room in a pulsing sickly light. She pointed at the ancient artifact, "This gives me the right, boy. When I'm finished with you three, you won't care about anything except following my orders. From the mind crystal, there is no escape."

She reached down and carefully picked up the crystal. Turning towards her captives and holding the artifact in front of her, the ancient woman concentrated carefully. As she did, three bright red beams of light shot off of the crystal and into the face of each of the boys. Cologne closed her eyes and concentrated further as the beams shrank in width until they were fine points of light centered on their foreheads. The old woman chanted a few words and the beams of light changed to a dark purple. Spirals of dark red energy snaked along the violet beams and throbbed as if alive. The living coils of energy wrapped themselves tightly around the hapless boys, causing them to scream out in pain. A third sickly green coil of energy appeared from the crystal. Larger than the other two, it crackled and hummed with power as it spiraled towards the boys. While they continued to scream out in pain, the energy slinked around their necks and into their open mouths. Their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and glowed a bright green as their bodies shook violently against the restraints.

For nearly two hours the ancient Amazon maintained her position with the crystal while her unwilling prisoners suffered in intense pain. Finally the old woman opened her eyes and took a deep breath. The light from the device and the boys faded until finally the room was cloaked in the darkness of the evening.

Shampoo walked up to Cologne as she staggered to her knees, "Great grandmother! You okay?"

The old woman held the crystal close to her, "I'll be alright, child. We will spend the rest of the evening resting, and then we will get your groom."

The young woman smiled, "Shampoo happy to get husband back."

The old woman stood up on shaky legs, "I certainly hope so. We are now committed to capturing son-in-law."

"When we do that?"

The old woman pointed towards the silent forms still chained to the wall, "Tomorrow morning, Shampoo. Ranma will come to us, we will beat him, and then we will take him home to China."


	10. Ice Battle

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Ice Battle

Kasumi smiled to herself as she prepared lunch for the family. She had noticed the quiet bond forming between Ranma and Nabiki and although it may well mean disappointing Akane, she also realized the change in Nabiki. Slowly, but surely, the bitter pain her younger sister felt towards the loss of their mother was finally beginning to heal.

A slight noise at the front door caught her attention and thinking there might be guests, she placed her apron on the kitchen hook and hurried to answer the door. When she got there, however, there was nobody waiting. Instead a white envelope had been carefully placed on the step. She looked across the yard in hopes of seeing who dropped the letter, but whoever it was had quickly left. After taking a quick look at the address on the envelope, she walked out to the dojo.

Ranma was practicing his katas while Nabiki seemed to be meditating. Smiling to see her sister once again take an interest in the arts, Kasumi turned her attention to the pig tailed martial artist, "Ranma, this came for you."

The boy stopped his kata and walked over, "Hey Kasumi. What is it?"

She handed it to him, "I'm not sure, it appeared on the doorstep a few minutes ago. I didn't see who delivered it, though."

Ranma slid his finger under the flap and opened the envelope, pulling out the letter he began to read. After a while he cursed, "Oh crap. It's another challenge."

Nabiki stood up and walked over, "Another challenge? Who is it from?"

Ranma handed the letter over to Nabiki and she read:

_Ranma Saotome,_

_I hereby challenge you to a final duel of skill and wits for the hand of Akane Tendo. Should you lose, you shall agree to forfeit all interest in her and allow me to resume our courtship._

_Should I lose, I shall agree on my honor to relinquish all interest in Akane Tendo and the Pig Tailed girl._

_If you wish to honor this challenge, I shall be waiting at the park below the hill at precisely one o-clock this afternoon._

_May the best man win._

_Signed, _

_Tatewaki Kuno_

Nabiki fingered the paper a bit, "This is his handwriting and the paper is a high quality. I'm not sure what he's up to here though. It's not like him to demand a formal challenge. It leaves a paper trail that he can't escape from if he were to lose."

Ranma thought for a moment, "I don't see how he can win. We've fought countless times before and he's never beaten me."

"Are you going to accept the challenge."

"I'm never one to miss a chance to beat some sense into Kuno. Besides, it's a chance to get him to leave Akane and my girl side alone."

Nabiki handed him the letter, "It doesn't feel right thought. This just isn't like him."

"Yeah, no drama."

"Ranma, I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this."

He shot her a confident smile, "Hey, you know me. I never lose."

She moved to within a few inches of him and glared as the room temperature dropped several degrees, "I make it my business to know people, Saotome. I'm telling you right now that even though this is Tatewaki's handwriting, this isn't him talking. This is either a forgery, a trap, or both."

Ranma shivered slightly under her icy glare, "What am I supposed to do, Nabiki? I can't just walk away from it."

Nabiki softened her glare and placed her hand on his arm, "I know. That's why I'm going to be there as well."

"What?" He backed up a couple of steps and pointed at the letter, "You said yourself this looks fishy. What if it's a trap?"

She took a step forward, "Precisely why I need to go. If something bad happens, I want to be there. You go on ahead and get ready for the challenge. I'll meet you there when the time comes."

He stared at her for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "Alright. But be careful. There's no telling what might happen."

As she quickly turned and headed out of the dojo, Nabiki watched and clenched a fist, "_That's exactly why I'm going, Ranma._"

She walked out of the dojo and into the house and her bedroom. Opening up the closet, she gently lifted the small cloth-wrapped bundle and placed it on the bed. After opening the cloth, she lifted the kimono and held it against her for a moment.

"_Okay, mom. It looks like I'm going to need your help today._"

Downstairs in the kitchen, Kasumi was preparing a small lunch for Ranma and Nabiki. But as she moved gracefully through her task, she paused and shivered slightly. Her eyes widened for a moment and she quickly turned and rushed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She stood for a moment in front of her sister's door before gently knocking.

"Nabiki?"

There was no answer and she reached down and touched the door knob. Her hand recoiled at the icy feel of it and she reached up and knocked a bit louder."

"Nabiki? Are you alright?"

The air became a bit warmer and Nabiki called out, "Come in, Kasumi."

Hesitating, she reached down and touched the door knob only to find it now normal room temperature. She opened the door and immediately raised her hand to her mouth and gasped.

Nabiki turned from the mirror, now fully dressed in her mother's Kimono. The blue and white pattern flowed across the fabric like falling snow and fit her form perfectly.

"W-why are you wearing that, sister?"

Nabiki stroked the fabric on her arm, "That challenge letter was not genuine, Kasumi. I know Tatewaki and it isn't his style. This whole thing smells like a trap and Ranma is walking right into it. He left a little while ago and I'll be following him to provide some backup, just in case."

Kasumi gave a worried look, "What are you going to do, Nabiki?"

Nabiki held her hand out as fine lines of blue lightening danced from her fingertips and a frosty cloud formed above her palm, "What ever it takes, sis….What ever it takes."

When Ranma arrived at the park, he quickly climbed up the short hill to check things out below. There he saw Tatewaki Kuno dressed in his samurai robes and standing stiff as a board. Although he was curious about Kuno's behavior, he also sensed there were others nearby. Shaking his head he made his way quickly down to his opponent. When Ranma reached the bottom of the hill he moved in front of Tatewaki and waved his hand.

"Hey Kuno. Ya awake?"

There was no answer, but before he could say another word, a familiar voice called out from behind, "Save your voice, son-in-law, he won't do anything unless I say so."

Ranma turned and his eyes widened at the sight of Ryoga, Mousse, Shampoo and Cologne approaching from some nearby trees. Ryoga and Mousse were shirtless and seemed to be staring into space. Shampoo stood behind Cologne as the old woman spoke.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Ranma. Come peacefully with us now to China, or we will force you. The choice is yours, but I must warn you, though. If you choose to fight it out, you will find the choice quite painful."

Ranma stared at the other young men and laughed, "You gotta be kidding me, old ghoul. I can beat these guys any day of the week."

The old woman cackled, "That may have well been true sonny boy, but that was before I had this."

She raised the crystal and as she did, it pulsed and glowed a dull red. Moments later, the three opponents moved into position around Ranma. Ryoga jumped forward and attempted to kick Ranma in the head, but was deflected by the pig tailed boy's arm as he moved out of the way. As Ryoga hit the ground and rolled, Mousse leaped forward with a pair of scimitars and attempted to cut Ranma in the side. Ranma jumped to one side and jabbed a vicious kick into the Chinese boy's own ribs. He staggered for a second and turned to face Ranma as if nothing had happened. Before Ranma could comment on his opponent's lack of skill, Kuno charged with a katana and sliced towards him. Ranma again moved slightly to one side and as the blade sliced past, Ranma kicked Kuno hard in the stomach. The kendoist staggered back a step but was not fazed by the retaliatory strike and brought the hilt of the sword against Ranma's back.

Shampoo watched in disbelief as Ranma was hit by the hilt of Kuno's sword. "Stick-Boy never get a good hit on husband before."

Ranma stepped back and studied his three attackers. They had surrounded him on three sides and were attacking his rear. Jumping out of the circle almost did him in as Mousse intercepted with his twin scimitars and nearly cut him in half. The moment Ranma landed, Ryoga attacked from behind. Ranma spun and landed a powerful kick into his gut that sent the Lost boy flying several yards away. But just as fast as he hit the ground, Ryoga was back on his feet and running towards him. Sensing yet another attack from behind, Ranma quickly turned around and found Kuno and Mousse charging with their swords in the air. Kuno attacked first and Ranma rushed into his face while using the 'chestnuts on an open fire' technique to pound Kuno away. As Kuno backed up, Ranma noticed for the first time that the kendoist had white eyes. Ramna immediately turned to Mousse and kicked him in the bridge of the nose, knocking the Chinese boy's off and to the side. It did no good though, as Mousse didn't seem to need them anymore. His eyes too, were all white.

Shampoo and Cologne stood off to the side of the battle. Cologne held the mind crystal in her hand as she forced herself to concentrate on the battle. Her future son in law was proving to be much more powerful than she gave him credit for. The three martial artists she enslaved with the ancient stone felt no pain and were completely obedient to her commands. Their combined skills should have beaten the boy a long time ago. Yet, Ranma continued to hold his own against them.

Ranma ducked as the pair of scimitars flashed past his eyes by just an inch. He then kicked Mousse several times in the ribs causing at least a couple to crack or break. Mousse fell back to the ground and seemed disoriented for the moment. Ranma turned just as Ryoga charged him with a flying kick to the head. Ranma grabbed the lost boy's leg and using his speed for leverage, slammed Ryoga face down onto the ground. Just as Ranma looked up, Kuno swung his katana at him with a deadly hiss. Ranma was just barely avoiding the force of the strike but the deadly blade still managed to nick him through his shirt. Kuno spun and came in for an overhead strike and Ranma moved out of the way with only moments to spare. As the blade sliced past, he grabbed a hold of Kuno's hands at the hilt of the sword and forced him to follow through. With the power of both Kuno and Ranma behind it, the Japanese blade sliced into the earth like butter and stopped with barely an inch showing above the ground. As Kuno fought to free the blade, Ranma hit him with a roundhouse kick that launched him a good 20 feet away.

Cologne fought for control with the crystal. Son in law was hitting her fighters harder than ever and with each powerful kick and punch, she was forced to fight a mental war with them as the pain blocked out her commands. She almost lost control of Mousse when Ranma broke his ribs.

As the fight progressed, Ranma began to wear down. Against even two of these fighters, he had more than a good chance of beating them, but with three of them, he was at a tactical disadvantage. Kuno had freed the sword and was once again charging Ranma with the katana held high. Ranma turned and prepared his defenses against the blade. Suddenly there was a blue-white flash that momentarily blocked out his vision of Kuno. A second later the blue fog cleared revealing Kuno laying on the ground, his entire body covered with two inch long needles of ice. Realization dawned on Ranma as he turned his attention to his other two attackers. As they moved in to attack, a new grin of confidence appeared on Ranma's face.

Cologne was stunned! One moment she was confident that Ranma was going to be defeated, and the next, one of her fighters was down and Ranma was continuing to fight the others.

Cologne gritted her teeth in frustration. "Where did that blast come from? It certainly wasn't from Son-in-law!"

Up on the hill, Nabiki spread her hands out as she struggled to control her ki. Swirling filaments of blue ice surrounded her and large balls of powerful, glowing ice encircled her hands and pulsed with unstable energy. As the power of the whirling spheres grew, they threatened to knock her off her feet. She spread her stance a bit to stabilize herself as she concentrated on her next target.

Ranma was fighting both Ryoga and Mousse at the same time. Once Kuno had been taken out, the two remaining fighters were attacking side by side in an attempt to overwhelm Ranma. Ranma was suddenly knocked back as Ryoga nailed him with a powerful punch to the chest. Sensing victory, they charged in to deliver the final blow.

Nabiki could feel the power of the spheres straining to leap off of her hands. She concentrated on her target and commanded the spheres to strike. The spheres seemed to contract for a second, then two beams of twisting blue energy sprang forth and joined at a point about 10 feet in front of her. From this junction a solid bolt of throbbing blue plasma appeared and shot towards the battle below.

Mousse had charged ahead when he saw Ranma fall. He could sense victory and release from the terrible pain that raced through his tortured mind. Mousse positioned his scimitars to run Ranma through. At this speed he wasn't going to miss. The twin blades raced towards Ranma's heart seeking to slice it in half, but when they were less than a meter away there was a flash as the ice bolt struck its target.

"sssshSHSHSHKKKKKKK"

Cologne gasped as she watched the ice bolt race towards the fight and strike her fighters in a blinding flash of blue energy. She quickly turned and looked for its source and saw the woman standing on the hill overlooking the battleground. The glow of frozen air around her and her stance as she struggled to control the frozen forces of nature sent chills through Cologne's spine. "Dear god….An ice mage!"

Ranma stared at the sight before him. There was Mousse, both of his deadly scimitars extended and reaching for Ranma, frozen in a solid chunk of ice. Just to the left, Ryoga was struggling to free his left hand from the ice that held him.

Ranma grinned. "Way to go, Nabiki! It's just me and P-chan now."

At that moment, Ryoga used his Breaking Point technique to shatter the ice and free his arm. He then stepped over the unconscious form of Mousse and approached Ranma.

"_Much better…_" Thought Nabiki. "_Ranma should be more than a match for Ryoga."_

Nabiki turned to her attention to the 2 other participants of the battle, Cologne and Shampoo.

Nabiki thought to herself, "_If I can stop Cologne, this will be finished. But I don't have enough ki reserves to throw another bolt._"

She began to draw ki from the ground and thought, "_If I can't fire another ice bolt, perhaps I can use nature to do the work for me._"

Nabiki then raised her hands above her head. As she did, strands of energy started flowing from the ground. Icy filaments flowed around her body and climbed up towards her hands. From there, glowing blue spheres of golf ball sized energy leaped up into the clouds overhead like an arctic roman candle.

Cologne was not having a good day. At first everything was working as planned. Son-in-law was losing the battle and would soon be defeated. Then came those 2 blasts of frost energy that took out Kuno and Mousse. Now the boy was on the offensive, tearing Ryoga apart. Cologne saw the sky darken and looked up at the swirling cloud mass a few hundred meters overhead. She was about to tell Shampoo to run when she heard her yell out in pain. Cologne's world then turned into a nightmare and thousands of baseball-sized chunks of ice rained down upon her and Shampoo. As she staggered towards her great granddaughter, several of the monster hailstones made contact. One particularly nasty one struck her on the side of her head behind her temple. Her final thought as she lost consciousness was that she prayed to the gods that her Shampoo would survive.

Nabiki watched the ice storm attack Cologne. When we saw the woman was no longer a threat, she lowered her hands. Staggering slightly, she took a step towards Ranma and closed her eyes as she collapsed to the ground.


	11. Aftermath

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Aftermath

Ranma was about to hit Ryoga with his final attack when the lost boy suddenly dropped his fists to his side and just stood there. Ranma taunted him, "Come on P-Chan! Let's finish this!"

Ryoga looked over at Ranma with clear eyes, "Thank you…for…freeing me, Ranma."

He rubbed his eyes for a few seconds and continued, "The old ghoul had all of us in her control. We were trapped within our own minds and she was in control of our bodies. If you hadn't stopped her, we would have continued to fight …to the death."

"Indeed…" replied Kuno as he slowly got to his feet. "That vile wretch had a vise grip on our very souls."

Kuno walked up to Ranma and said, "Many times I have accused you, Ranma Saotome, of being a vile sorcerer. But while that horrible woman had control of my mind, I saw what true black magic really was. I now know that I have been unfair in my judgment of you, Ranma Saotome, and I apologize for my past actions.

Ranma looked at Kuno for a minute, "Listen Kuno, I'll accept your apology under one condition."

Kuno smiled and said, "Just say the condition and I will agree to it."

Ranma's face became serious, "You gotta stop chasing my girl half."

Kuno stared at the ground and shook his head slightly, "So it is true then. You and the pigtailed goddess are one in the same. My twisted sister spoke of this to me earlier, and while in the grip of that old woman, I saw some of her memories. Many were of blue-haired maiden and her Amazon tribe, but several of those memories were of you. In those images I saw you change to a girl and back. I know of your curse now, Ranma Saotome, and I agree to your terms."

Ranma stood there for a while Kuno's words sunk in. Then he grinned, "Thanks Kuno, that means a lot to me. Apology accepted."

"I…too…was wrong, Ranma."

Mousse stood up with his hands against his ribs continued, "That dried up monkey was playing us for a fool the whole time. She never cared about you or Shampoo's happiness. All she really wanted was to keep you as a captive for breeding stock so that your children would strengthen the Amazon tribe."

Ranma slowly shook his head, "I knew it was something like that, but I never thought she would be this ruthless."

Mousse produced another pair of glasses and shook his head, "Use of the mind control crystal is forbidden under all but the most dire of conditions. By Amazon law both she and Shampoo will have to face trial by the elder council. I will do what I can to protect Shampoo, but she will nev-Shampoo!"

Everyone turned as Mousse suddenly ran over to a figure on laying nearby on the ground.

When Ranma reached Mousse, he was holding the unconscious form of Shampoo in his arms. Ranma looked closely at the Chinese girl and could see that she had a broken arm and a nasty gash on the back of her head. He could see by her ki that she was still alive, but she needed medical attention. Ranma knelt next to her and gently placed his hands on the back of her head. He used what reserves he had to channel healing ki into shampoo, but he could tell it was not enough.

"We're going to need more help if we're going to save her."

He got up and just before he took off said, "I'll be back right back."

Nabiki was sitting on the ground holding her head in her hands as the mother of all headaches began to fade. Suddenly she felt herself being picked up as a pair of comforting arms held her close. She leaned against him while the pain faded and after a few seconds and Ranma smiled, "I'm very proud of you Nabiki. You saved all of our lives down there. Without you, Mousse, Ryoga and Kuno would be dead, or I'd be tied up and on a boat to China by now."

Nabiki looked up at Ranma and blushed, "It was your training that opened m eyes to the art, Ranma. Besides, I was just helping out my best friend."

Ranma gave her a squeeze and said, "Were going to need some of that skill from both of us. Shampoo is hurt really bad."

Nabiki tensed, "I was only trying to stop Cologne. I may dislike Shampoo, but I didn't want to really hurt her."

"That's ok Nabiki, it couldn't be helped. But I think that if we use our ki together, we can stabilize her till we can get her to the hospital."

"Ok, but I don't think I have the strength to hike down this hill."

Ranma gave her a wink, "Who said anything about you hiking?"

Before Nabiki could say another word, Ranma was running down the hill with her in his arms. As he carried her, Nabiki thought to herself, "_Mmmm, this is really nice!_"

She snuggled up a bit closer as Ranma carried her to Shampoo.

When they got there, Ranma set her gently down on one side of the Amazon. Then he moved to the other side and pointed, "Ok, were going to make a single healing ki ball together and then we're going to gently press it into her body. The energy should help her recover."

Kuno leaned over and spoke, "I already phoned an ambulance, they should be here in a few minutes."

"Good work, Kuno." He turned back to Nabiki, "She's going to need this real fast or she isn't going to make it at all."

Nabiki was a bit nervous, "I'm not sure about this Ranma. I've never done this before on anyone but myself."

Ranma smiled, "It'll be okay Nabiki. Just lay your hand over mine and form up your ki with me nice and easy."

Nabiki closed her eyes and started working on her ki. It had been easy for her earlier, but seeing Shampoo hurt so bad was making it hard to concentrate. Ranma noticed and said, "Easy now. Nice and slow. Just work on channeling the ki. That's it. Nice and easy."

Nabiki could feel the now familiar chill wash over her as she started channeling. She opened her eyes and saw that the ball of healing ki was much larger then she had ever seen it.

Ranma then said, "Ok, now I want you to help me press the ball into shampoo's head. This is not like healing yourself and the ball will fight you just a bit, but keep pressing until it has been absorbed into her body."

As Ranma pushed, she followed behind him. The Amazon's body at first resisted the twin ki forces and the ball would not enter. As the resistance increased, the ball began to pulse and glow. Slowly the ball began to enter Shampoo's body but to Nabiki it felt like she was pushing her hands through sand. In a few seconds the ball was gone and her hands were touching Shampoo's hair.

"Ok Nabiki, that's about all we can do till the ambulance gets here."

Ryoga tilted his head and said, "I think I hear it now"

Ranma got on his feet and said, "Okay, let's see how bad the old ghoul is."

They found Cologne laying face up in a pool of her own blood, the remains of the mind crystal scattered about her in tiny pieces. There was a large gash in the side of her head that looked bad but was no longer bleeding. Nabiki grabbed Ranma's arm tightly and cried, "Oh god, Ranma! Is she dead? I only wanted to stop her, not kill her!"

About that time, the ambulance pulled up and two rescue workers jumped out and headed for Shampoo.

Cologne's eyes suddenly snapped wide open and focused on Nabiki. "So that was you I saw on the hill, Miss Tendo. My congratulations. Only a handful of people have ever mastered the art of ki manipulation enough to become a mage, much less an ice mage. I take it that son-in…Ranma had a hand in your training."

Glad to see the old woman was not dead, Nabiki smiled and nodded.

"Once again I have underestimated you, Ranma."

Cologne looked towards Nabiki, "There has not been a mage in this part of the world for over three hundred years. Your presence is sure to attract the attention of many high-powered people, Miss Tendo. Stay close to Ranma and look to him for protection."

Nabiki became concerned and said, "What do you mean? Am I now a target because I can channel magic?"

"Yes and no. As with Ranma, there will always be people who will challenge your skill in the form of contests and fights. But there will also be people that will want to use your talent for evil purposes. Be extremely careful for those, Miss Tendo."

"I've had some experience dealing with those kinds of people, Elder. It shouldn't be too hard to discover what they are really after."

Cologne laughed for a moment and said, "I'm sure you can. Remember too, that you may also be visited by elders with the ability to train you further. Keep an open mind but remain cautious of their true intentions."

"You both would have been wonderful additions to our tribe. Unfortunately, I underestimated you and because I used the mind crystal, I will be tried when we return to the village."

Ranma spoke, "What will they do to you?"

Well, the least that will happen is I will lose my leadership as a tribal elder. The worst is they will put me to death."

Ranma frowned, "We may have some differences, but I never wanted to see you killed."

Cologne laughed, "Well, well…showing a bit of concern, eh Ranma?"

"No…I just…you know…"

"Well, don't worry about me, sonny boy. I've learned a few tricks these past few hundred years and they're not going to get me that easy. I'm not going down without a fight."

One of the attendants came over and started to check on Cologne. As he worked on Cologne he said, "Pardon me folks, but I'm going to have to ask you to stand aside while we get this woman transported to the hospital."

In a surprise move, Ranma quickly knelt down and clasped Cologne's hand while he whispered in her ear, "Although I hold you responsible for what happened here today, I can't deny that you are also responsible for much of my martial arts ability. I thank you for that and I wish you luck when you return to your tribe."

Cologne smiled and softly said, "Don't worry sonny boy, I'll be back someday."

Ranma smiled and backed away as the attendants placed her on the gurney and took her inside the ambulance. As the ambulance drove away Ranma whispered, "_I have no doubt you will_."

Although Mousse rode with Shampoo in the ambulance, Kuno and Ryoga stayed for a few minutes. Kuno stifled a yawn, "That foul magic drained my body and I feel I must get to sleep soon. Ranma, Nabiki, I bid you a good day, and good night.

As Kuno turned and walked away, Ryoga spoke up, "Ranma, I never saw true hell, until today. The mind control that woman used was worse than anything the curse has ever thrown at me. At least as a pig, I had a choice."

Ranma smirked, "Yeah, having that old ghoul in your head must have been creepy."

Ryoga laughed, "You don't know the half of it.

He paused for a bit and continued, "I'd like to apologize for my previous actions, Ranma. You were giving me a chance and I chose to ignore you. I'll do my best to keep P-chan away from Akane."

Ranma smiled and extended his hand, "That's all I ever wanted to hear, Ryoga. You're welcome to see her as long as it's you and not the pig."

Ryoga grasped the offered hand, "Thanks Ranma. After what happened, I may not deserve it, but I appreciate hearing that from you."

Ranma asked, "So what are you going to do now?"

Ryoga looked at the ground for a bit, "I have a lot to think about, Ranma. I'll come back after I've gotten my head straight."

Ranma nodded as his rival turned and walked away. After he was out of sight, Ranma turned to Nabiki and smiled, "Well, that's the end of it. The whole fiancé thing has been cleared up and I can now lead a somewhat normal life."

Nabiki nodded and with a bit of hesitation commented, "So I guess all we need to do is head on home and you'll confess your feelings to Akane and fulfill the engagement contract."

Ranma slumped his shoulders slightly, "Yeah….Lets go home."

As Ranma and Nabiki walked towards home, they passed through a small park. When they approached a little bench, Nabiki said, "Let's stop here for a few minutes. There's something I want to show you."

"Sure."

After they sat down, Nabiki reached into her kimono and pulled out a little box. She handed the box to Ranma and said, "I think that you will like this."

Ranma took the small felt covered maroon box and smiled, "So they were able to repair it?"

He opened it and gasped at what he saw. Nabiki smiled, "Not only did the jeweler have a replacement diamond, but he was able to restore the finish of the ring and the other jewels. It's quite a beautiful little piece of jewelry, actually."

Ranma gently pulled the ring out and as he admired it, said, "Nabiki, I'd like to see how this ring looks on a woman's finger. Would you please try it on for me?"

"Well, okay. Akane and I have the same ring size so it should fit."

Ranma gently removed the ring from the box and with his free hand reached down and grasped Nabiki's left hand. Nabiki felt chills run down her spine as Ranma gently slid the ring on her finger. As Ranma held Nabiki's hand he looked at the ring and smiled warmly, "You're right, it is very beautiful."

Ranma looked up into Nabiki's eyes and said, "I wish it could stay on your finger for all time, Nabiki."

Nabiki's eyes widened in shock, "Wha-what do you mean?"

Ranma gently clasped Nabiki's hand in both of his, "What I mean is we have grown very close to each other. I enjoy our time together and I care for you very much, Nabiki.

A sudden burst of chills rippled down Nabiki's back, "I care for you too, Ranma, but-."

Ranma's voice seemed to be breaking as he continued, "I…I think I'm falling in love with you, Nabiki. No other person has ever made me feel like this and I…I would like you to marry me."


	12. Proposal

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of the manga's characters. I write these stories only for my own personal pleasure._

Proposal

Nabiki gasped and it was a few seconds before she could speak. As she did, tears began to build in her eyes, "Ranma….I care for you very much as well, but as much as it pains me to say so, I-I can't accept. You're still engaged to Akane, and I know that she cares for you a lot. It wouldn't be fair for me to just take you from her. If it were shampoo or Kodachi or anyone else, I would accept in a heartbeat. But I'm not going to hurt my own sister like that. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Tears were running down Nabiki's cheeks as she looked over at Ranma. It took everything she had inside her to say no. More than anything she wanted to marry the man that she had become so close to.

Ranma reached around Nabiki and held her close. As he gently stroked her soft brown hair he said, "Aww, don't cry. I'm sorry for upsetting you, but I needed to know what your answer was before I asked Akane."

Nabiki sobbed a little more, "So you asked me first?"

"Yeah."

As Nabiki was held against Ranma's chest she sniffled and said, "I'll tell you what. After you make a good proposal to her, if she turns you down, I'll agree to marry you."

Ranma thought about it for a few moments and smiled, "Alright. If she turns me down, then you will agree to marry me."

Nabiki, pulled away and raised a finger at Ranma and said, "One thing though. You have to do it right. No making her mad so she turns you down. You must give it your best shot in asking her."

"All right, I promise."

Nabiki reluctantly pulled the ring off of her finger and looked at it for a few more moments. "_It is really a very pretty ring. Seeing it on Akane's finger is going to be difficult._"

Nabiki handed the ring over to Ranma and said, "Are you going to ask her soon?"

"Yeah. As soon as we get home, I'm going to get cleaned up and once that's done I'm going to wait in the dojo till she comes home. I'll pop the question then."

Ranma placed the ring back in the little box and then the two teens got up and continued on home.

As soon as they entered the house, Ranma ran into the bath to get cleaned up and Nabiki headed upstairs to her bedroom to change out of the kimono. After she had changed into her shorts and blouse, she held up the kimono and smiled, "It was odd how nice it felt to wear this. Even in the battle it somehow felt right."

She carefully hung the garment on a padded hanger in her closet. Then she headed downstairs to see if she could find a snack to hold her over till dinner time. In the cupboard she found a bag of chips and sat down in front of the TV to catch up on the news. While she was snacking, she heard someone slam the front door. A moment later, Akane appeared and stomped up the stairs without saying a word. About ten minutes later, Akane came back down the stairs and asked, "Nabiki? Have you seen Ranma?"

Relived to find Akane calmed down from whatever was bothering her, Nabiki answered, "I think he's out in the dojo."

After Akane headed outside to the dojo, Nabiki picked up her camera and silently followed. "_I wouldn't miss this for the world._" She thought.

After Akane entered the dojo, Nabiki found herself a spot hidden from view where she could watch the two teens.

Akane quickly walked up behind Ranma and said, "Well, good evening Ranma. Where have you been all day?"

Ranma turned while keeping the ring behind his back and smiled, "Oh, hi Akane. There's something I want to talk with you about."

Akane darkened, "I said, where have you been all day?"

"Well, I had to take care of some business."

"With Nabiki again?"

"Ah…yeah, I had some business with Nabiki."

Akane's aura started to glow as she glared menacingly, "Don't give me that! I saw you with Kodachi a few days ago and then just a while ago, I saw you hugging another girl in the park!"

"Look Akane, Kodachi broke off the engagement that day. She was just saying good bye."

For the first time, Akane noticed that Ranma was wearing his dress clothes. "Why are you dressed up? Are you going on another date with one of your bimbos?"

As Akane's rage climbed higher, Ranma thought to himself, "_I've gotta calm her down or this is gonna get ugly real fast!_"

"It's nothing like that, Akane. I just wanted to make tonight special, that's all."

During all of this, Nabiki was thinking to herself, "_Good…good. Keep it smooth and don't put your foot in your mouth. Akane's going to be so surprised!_"

But Akane's rage continued to climb and she growled, "Special? It must be a really perverted date if you're going to make it something special."

"Hey, calm down. I'm not going on a date with anyone. I just wan-."

Yeah, right! You're in here all dressed up and since you didn't ask me to go with you, it's obviously for someone else!"

Ranma watched cautiously as Akane built her rage up to dangerous levels.

Desperate to diffuse the situation, Ranma said, "Look, all I wanted to do was to get dressed up for a special occasion. If you will come sit with me for a little while, I ha-."

Akane's rage was under full autopilot as she interrupted, "Why would I want come near a two-timing pervert like you? I can't stand to be in the same room with you, much less sit next to you! You're nothing but a sick, perverted little half-man cross-dresser that no woman in the world would ever want to be near!"

"Come on Akane, I don't deserve this."

"Oh yes you do!"

WHAM!

Akane suddenly produced her mallet and struck Ranma on the head with a powerful blow, driving him flat onto the dojo floor. Ranma groaned and she reached back and hit him again. As she raised her mallet for a third time, Ranma's hand opened and a small box rolled across the floorboards.

"So that's what you were going to give to one of your bimbos! Well, we'll just see about that!"

Akane pounded the little box again and again with her massive mallet. When she was finished smashing the box, she looked over at Ranma. Satisfied that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Akane smugly turned around and started to walk towards the house. As she began to leave the dojo, she found her path blocked by Nabiki.

"_Why is Nabiki staring at me like that_?" she wondered.

Nabiki's eyes were full of anger while tears threatened to stream from their lower edge.

Akane started to ask her what's wrong, "Nabiki, wha…"

SMACK!

Faster than Akane could see it, Nabiki's hand shot out and slapped her across the face.

Akane reached up and felt the now tender side of her face and stared at Nabiki, "_She slapped me!_" she thought to herself. "_Why did she do that? I just taught that perverted cross-dresser a lesson and for no reason she slaps me!"_

Nabiki's voice was as cold and hard as ice as Akane stared in wide-eyed shock.

"You worthless bitch! What the HELL do you think you're doing?"

"But Nabiki, I caught him. I caught the two-timing pervert red handed! He was getting ready to go on a date with one of his bimbos! He even had a little present for her!"

Nabiki began to radiate an icy chill that fogged the very air in the dojo, but her eyes blazed hot with her inner anger. "What in the hell are you talking about!"

Akane pointed towards the floor at the smashed remains of Ranma's little box. "He won't be giving that to any of those sluts of his anytime soon."

Nabiki knelt down and inspected the remains of the little box and its precious contents. The tiny ring never had a chance against the force of Akane's mallet. Nabiki picked up the shattered pieces of the engagement ring and gently slipped them into her pocket as a single tear silently fell onto the dojo floor. Akane wondered if Nabiki was going to use it to blackmail Ranma or his other fiancés. But as Nabiki stood up, she stepped to within a few inches of Akane. "You stupid moron! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

She reached out and gave Akane a harsh shake by her shoulders. "Do you?"

"But Nabi-"

Nabiki shoved Akane back a couple of steps, "Shut up! I'll tell you what you did, you little slut. In one selfish action…You, little sister, destroyed the most precious thing Ranma had."

Akane interrupted, "Wha…what was in that box?"

"I'm not talking about the box, you idiot! I'm talking about you!"

"Me?"

Nabiki spat on the floor, "Yes, you! Don't you get it, bitch? Ranma had finally built up the courage to end all of the other engagements and ask you to marry him. But instead of thanking him, you pounded him into the floor and destroyed his mother's engagement ring!"

Akane's eyes widened and she took a step back as Nabiki continued, "What little amount of love Ranma felt for you has been destroyed forever, crushed into the floor of this dojo like it was some kind of disgusting insect!"

Akane whispered, "nooo…"

"That's right Akane, you had your chance to hear your fiancé tell you he loved you, and what did you do? You ruined it all with that damned temper of yours!"

Akane suddenly turned towards Ramna. As she took a step towards him, she felt a sudden pain in her side and realized that something very cold had knocked her into the dojo wall. "Nabiki…?"

"Yeah me!" Nabiki's icy stare bored through Akane's very soul. "Don't you dare touch him! Not now, not ever!"

Nabiki became icy cold as the very walls around her and Akane started to freeze over with a white frost. "Now get the hell out of here before I show you what real pain is all about!"

"But Na-"

"NOW, BITCH!" Roared Nabiki.

As tears streamed down her eyes, a very terrified Akane stumbled out the dojo door and ran towards the house. Nabiki walked over to where the slightly conscious form of Ranma lay. Kneeling beside him, she gently wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "I was a fool to say no to you earlier. She doesn't love you and I doubt she ever will."

Ranma groaned and half opened his eye, "Ya think so?"

Nabiki smiled warmly as she continued to hold him, "If I had known she was going to react like that, I would have said yes earlier."

He smiled and looked up at her, "So does this mean you accept my offer?"

Nabiki said nothing more but instead moved close and kissed Ranma on the lips. After a few seconds, she stopped and smiled in a very predatory manner, "Offer accepted."

"That's gr-."

His response was cut short by another, much longer kiss.

The End

_I hope you've enjoyed Magic ice. As I mentioned earlier, this story was the result of a pair of oneshots I had been working on earlier. As nice as this ending might be, I have left a lot of loose ends. I am working now on an eventual sequel to address the following:_

_The Amazons will not be happy of Cologne and Shampoo's failure, nor will they be pleased of the fact an outsider female beat them both in battle._

_The Amazon council will also be concerned that an ice mage is now living in Japan._

_Akane is still out of control and more dangerous than ever as she develops her strength._

_Kasumi will have to learn control as well if she is to eventually have a meaningful talk with Dr. Tofu._

_Ryoga will return, but what will happen when Akane learns of the curse?_

_Kuno is still on the hunt for Akane…_

_Ukyo…Has she given up, or will she find someone new?_

_And finally, Nabiki's awakening will draw the attention of others … both good and evil._

_There is a lot of writing left to do, and I will be working on more as college allows._

_-Kniteshadow-_


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